QuoteIron › Lawn & Landscaping price book › Install Mulch
The book prices mulch per cubic yard installed: 1 hour and $35 for the mulch. A cubic yard covers roughly a hundred square feet at a three-inch depth, so quote by the yard and say the depth on the quote. The hourly rate matters more than the mulch price here, because spreading by hand is the cost.
Price breakdown: labor, parts, markup
Here is mulch install, per cubic yard installed as a contractor would build it at the book’s sample rate of $95 an hour and a 30% parts markup.
| Labor hours | 1 h |
| Labor at $95/hr | $95.00 |
| Parts at your cost | $35.00 |
| Parts markup (30%) | $10.50 |
| Subtotal before rounding | $140.50 |
| Typical flat rate (rounded up to $5) | $145 |
| Effective rate per labor hour | $145/h |
| Markup as a share of the price | 7% |
The range: the same job at three labor rates
Same hours, same parts, three hourly rates. All at a 30% parts markup, rounded up to $5:
| Job | Hours / parts | At $75/hr | At $95/hr | At $125/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mulch install, per cubic yard installed | 1h / $35 | $125 | $145 | $175 |
Quoting more than one
The book row is per cubic yard. Straight multiplication at the $95 sample rate, with no volume discount applied; decide your own break for bigger jobs.
| Quantity | At $75/hr | At $95/hr | At $125/hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cubic yards | $125 | $145 | $175 |
| 3 cubic yards | $375 | $435 | $525 |
| 5 cubic yards | $625 | $725 | $875 |
| 10 cubic yards | $1,250 | $1,450 | $1,750 |
What the flat rate covers
- Mulch install, per cubic yard installed. Spread and hand-tuck hardwood mulch in beds, priced per cubic yard installed.
What moves the price
- Depth and coverage. State the depth. Customers expect "fresh", and an inch of mulch disappears; three inches is the common standard.
- Bed prep. Edging, weeding and cut-in are separate book rows. Mulch over weeds is a callback.
- Delivery and access. Where the truck can drop and how far you wheelbarrow changes the hours more than the yardage does.
Add-ons to put on the quote
These are separate rows in the same book, priced at the $95 sample rate. Put the ones that apply on the quote so they are lines, not arguments.
| Add-on | Hours / parts | Price at $95/hr |
|---|---|---|
| Hand-cut spade edge around beds, per 50 linear feet | 1.5h / $0 | $145 |
| Steel/plastic bed edging install, per 50 linear feet | 1.25h / $40 | $175 |
| New bed cut-in & prep, per 100 sq ft | 1.5h / $10 | $160 |
| Bed weeding & cleanout, per hour | 1h / $2 | $100 |
| Rock/gravel bed install, per cubic yard | 1.5h / $45 | $205 |
How to present it: Good, Better, Best
Offer three options on one quote and let the customer choose. Each is a sum of real book rows at the $95 sample rate. All three tiers are built on 3 cubic yards. Better adds a crisp hand-cut edge; Best adds a new steel or plastic edging.
- 3 x Mulch install, per cubic yard installed
- 3 x Mulch install, per cubic yard installed
- Hand-cut spade edge around beds, per 50 linear feet
- 3 x Mulch install, per cubic yard installed
- Hand-cut spade edge around beds, per 50 linear feet
- Steel/plastic bed edging install, per 50 linear feet
How these numbers are built
QuoteIron’s price book stores structure: typical labor hours and a mid-grade parts cost for each job (book priced 2026-09). Your rates do the pricing: hours × your hourly rate, plus parts at cost with your markup, rounded up to the next $5. The low, typical and high figures use $75, $95 and $125 an hour at the book’s default 30% markup. They are formula outputs, not a survey of what your market pays, so replace them with your own rate and markup before you send anything. Prices checked October 8, 2026.
Related job pages
Hours and parts are typical starting points for a straightforward site; your market, supplier and the specific conditions decide the real number. Licensing, permits and local rules stay yours to handle. General information, not tax or legal advice.