Enter your area and pick a depth. We'll convert it to bulk bags and 100L bags — with honest 2026 prices for ornamental bark, woodchip and play-grade.
Quick answer: A 1m³ bulk bag of bark covers about 20m² at the standard 50mm mulching depth. In 2026, ornamental (decorative) bark costs £135–£165 per m³ from specialist suppliers. For a small border, 100L retail bags at 3-for-£30 are the cheaper route — they work out at around £100 per m³.
Prices checked July 2026 · how we check them · how we work it out
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Includes 10% for settling — bark compresses in the bag and after spreading. Bark is sold by volume, not weight (it's light: a 1m³ bag is only ~250–400kg).
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Prices checked July 2026 · how we check them · how we work it out
These figures are planning estimates. Bag 'volumes' are approximate and grades vary — chunky ornamental bark goes further and lasts longer than fine economy mulch. For public play areas, follow BS EN 1177 surfacing depths for your equipment's fall height rather than this calculator.
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Bark is the outer layer of a tree, chipped into small pieces — the neat, dark stuff you see on flower beds.
Woodchip is whole branches chipped up, wood and all — rougher and paler, but cheaper.
Both are types of mulch — a layer you spread over bare soil to stop weeds growing through and to hold moisture in.
Working out bark is simple: length × width × depth gives you cubic metres (a cubic metre, or m³, is a cube one metre on each side). Unlike gravel, bark is sold by volume — the litre — not by weight. That's because bark is very light (roughly 250–400kg per m³), so weight tells you nothing about how far it goes. A 1m³ bag covers about 20m² at the standard 50mm depth; a 100L retail bag covers about 2m².
We add 10% for settling — bark squashes down in the bag on the way to you, and the layer sinks a bit after you spread it (suppliers themselves quote 5–20% depending on the grade). One more honest tip: don't lay bark thin. Less than 50mm deep lets light through, so weeds grow anyway — and you'll be buying more in a few months.
Prices checked July 2026 against Rolawn, Wickes, B&Q, specialist bark suppliers and trade guides. Rounded ranges, not quotes.
| Material | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Economy woodchip mulch (per m³, delivered) | £70–£135 |
| Ornamental bark — 1m³ specialist bag | £135–£165 |
| Ornamental bark — branded 500L bag | £110–£133 (≈£220–£265/m³) |
| Play-grade bark, BS EN 1177 (per m³) | £155–£180 |
| 100L retail bag (B&Q / Wickes) | £8.50–£13 (3 for £30) |
| Weed membrane | £0.70–£1.80 per m² |
| Gardener to spread it (day rate) | £150–£250 |
Watch out for the per-litre trap: branded 500L bags cost roughly twice as much per litre as specialist 1m³ bags. And for small jobs, the 3-for-£30 retail deal beats them all.
| Job | DIY materials | With a gardener |
|---|---|---|
| Mulch a 20m² border at 50mm (~1.1m³) | £100–£165 | £165–£300 |
| Refresh top-up, same border, next year (~0.5m³) | £50–£85 | — |
| 30m² play area at 150mm (~5m³, play-grade) | £780–£1,100 | £950–£1,350 |
Play-area figures don't include timber edging or geotextile membrane (a tough fabric that lets water through but stops weeds). Budget £100–£200 more for both on a typical home setup.
• Grade — the grade is how chunky the bark is. Chunky ornamental (decorative) bark costs more per bag but lasts 2–4 years. Fine economy mulch is cheap but gone in a year.
• Bag size — the same bark can cost anywhere from £100–£265 per m³. It depends on whether you buy 1m³ bags, branded 500L bags or small retail bags on a multibuy deal.
• Delivery — specialist bark suppliers usually include it. Buy elsewhere and £40–£110 goes on top.
• Depth — 50mm deep works; 30mm doesn't. Buy too little and you end up buying it twice.
• Play areas — these need impact-tested bark (bark tested to soften a child's fall), laid deep enough for the height of the equipment, plus membrane and edging. Treat it as a small building job, not a quick mulching job.
At the standard 50mm depth, each square metre needs 0.05m³ of bark. So a 1m³ bulk bag covers about 20m², a 500L bag about 10m², and a 100L retail bag about 2m². Add 10% on top for settling — bark squashes down in the bag, and the layer sinks again once you've spread it.
Roughly £100–£220 per m³, depending on the grade (how chunky it is) and the size of bag. Economy woodchip is £70–£135/m³. Ornamental (decorative) bark in 1m³ specialist bags is £135–£165. Play-grade bark is around £155–£180/m³. Watch out for branded 500L bags at £110–£133 each — that works out at over £220/m³ for the same coverage.
50mm is the least that actually works on beds and borders. Any thinner and light gets through, so weeds grow anyway. Go to 75mm if you really want to stop weeds or you're using a cheap grade, and about 100mm for woodchip paths. Top it up with about 25mm a year to keep it looking fresh. Chunky ornamental bark lasts 2+ years; big bark nuggets last 4+.
Use play-grade bark (BS EN 1177) — bark tested to soften a child's fall — not ornamental bark. RoSPA (the accident-prevention charity) advises about 150mm deep for home play areas and 300mm for public ones. The taller the equipment a child could fall from, the deeper the bark needs to be. Lay it over a heavy-duty membrane that lets water through, hold it in with solid edging, and rake it back level regularly.
For new beds, paths and play areas — yes. A permeable membrane (a fabric that lets water through but stops weeds) blocks weeds and stops the bark sinking into the soil. On an older bed that's full of plants, you can skip it: worms pull the rotting bark down into the soil, and feeding the soil is half the point of mulching. Never use plastic sheeting — the soil underneath needs to breathe and drain.
For small jobs, multibuy deals win: 100L bags at 3-for-£30 work out at around £100/m³, which is cheaper than most branded bulk bags. For anything over about 1.5m³, a specialist 1m³ bulk bag delivered (£135–£165) beats carrying fifteen small bags home — and specialist bark suppliers usually include delivery.
Every price band on this page traces to a source we checked ourselves, with the date we checked it. Prices move — if one of these looks out of date, tell us and we'll recheck it.
We'll carry this over — your planted borders and the size you just worked out — and you can add anything else you're thinking about: clearance, paving, decking, fencing, lawn, driveways, planting. You end up with one brief to send to three landscapers, so they all price the same job and you can see which one has quietly left something out.
Doing it yourselves? It sizes your materials list too. Already holding a quote? It gives you the same numbers we'd check it against.
