Multiply length × width in feet by depth in feet, divide by 27 for cubic yards, then multiply by density — 1.5 tons per cubic yard for river rock. A 10 × 10 ft garden bed at 2 inches deep needs about 0.6 cubic yards, or roughly 0.9 tons of stone.
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Order – tons (includes your waste allowance) so compaction and spillage don’t leave you short.
Stone Calculator for Landscaping Guide
Landscaping stone rarely arrives as one tidy rectangle. A typical yard project is a foundation bed here, a border strip there, a tree ring, maybe a dry creek to move downspout water — and the estimate that works is the one that treats each piece separately, then totals them. This calculator handles the conversion for any of those shapes: square footage times depth, divided by 27 for cubic yards, times the density of the stone you picked.
Because decorative layers are shallow — usually 2 inches — small errors in depth swing the order more than errors in area. An extra half inch across 400 square feet is nearly two-thirds of a ton of river rock. Measure area casually if you must, but decide the depth deliberately.
How Much Stone Do Common Landscaping Projects Take?
The figures below use river rock at 1.5 tons per cubic yard. At a 2-inch depth, one cubic yard covers 162 square feet and one ton covers about 108 square feet.
| Project | Size | Depth | Cubic yards | Tons (river rock) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Border strip | 30 × 2 ft | 2 in | 0.37 | 0.6 |
| Foundation bed | 40 × 4 ft | 2 in | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Tree ring | 6 ft diameter | 2 in | 0.17 | 0.3 |
| Dry creek bed | 25 × 3 ft | 3 in | 0.7 | 1.0 |
| Full yard refresh | 500 sq ft | 2 in | 3.1 | 4.6 |
Add every line item together before ordering. Suppliers price bulk stone in half-yard increments, and a single combined delivery costs far less than topping up twice.
Depths, Prep, and Ordering for Landscape Stone
- Planting beds and borders: 1–2 inches. Deeper layers waste stone and can smother shallow-rooted shrubs.
- Walked-on areas: 2–3 inches, so foot traffic never scuffs through to the fabric.
- Dry creeks and swales: 3 inches minimum, with larger cobbles bedded into the layer where flow concentrates.
- Under every bed: woven landscape fabric, pinned every few feet. It stops stone from sinking into soil and cuts weeding to nearly nothing.
- Every gravel-to-lawn edge: steel, aluminum, or paver edging, or the stone migrates.
On quantity, remember the bag math: a cubic yard equals 54 half-cubic-foot bags, so bulk delivery wins on anything beyond a small border. Ask for the load to be tipped onto a tarp near the work area — moving a ton twice is the most common self-inflicted landscaping injury.
If you are still choosing between rock types, the landscape rock calculator compares river rock, pea gravel, lava rock, and more by weight and coverage. To sanity-check an estimate against a known area, the stone coverage calculator works the math in reverse.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much stone do I need for landscaping?
At the standard 2-inch decorative depth, one cubic yard covers 162 square feet and one ton of river rock covers about 108 square feet. Measure each bed or border as its own rectangle, add the areas together, and run the total through the calculator.
How deep should landscaping stone be?
Use 1–2 inches for decorative beds and borders around plantings, and 2–3 inches for walkable paths. Going deeper than 3 inches in a planting bed wastes money and can smother shallow roots.
Do I need landscape fabric under decorative stone?
Yes — a woven landscape fabric keeps stone from sinking into the soil and dramatically slows weeds. Without it, a 2-inch layer can disappear into soft ground within a few seasons and need topping up.
How many bags of stone equal a cubic yard?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it takes 54 of the common 0.5-cubic-foot bags to match one bulk yard. Bulk delivery is almost always cheaper once a project needs more than about half a yard.