Roughly 45–70 wheelbarrow trips — a cubic yard is 9–14 heaped loads depending on the barrow, so 5 yards lands in that range. With two people (one loading, one running), most crews clear a 5-yard pile in 2–3 hours. Mulch is the light one, at about 900 lbs per yard, which is why a full barrow of it rolls so much easier than the same barrow of loam.
What 5 yards looks like
- A pile about the footprint of a parking space, 3–4 ft tall
- ~810 sq ft of beds at a 2-inch refresh
- About 200 five-gallon buckets, if you skip the wheelbarrow entirely
Shop bulk mulch — delivered loose and ready to run, up to 10 yards per truckload.
