How Much Compost Do You Actually Need?
Compost depth depends entirely on what you're using it for. A lawn top dressing only needs ¼ to ½ inch — but spread over a 2,000-square-foot lawn, that thin layer adds up to 1.5 to 3 cubic yards. Amending existing garden beds typically calls for 2–3 inches mixed into the top 6–8 inches of soil. And if you're filling brand-new raised beds, compost should make up 30–40% of the total fill volume, blended with topsoil.
The Compost Calculator shows cubic yards for bulk delivery and bag counts for pickup. Bulk compost from a landscape supplier runs $20–$40 per cubic yard — significantly cheaper than bagged compost from a home center, which works out to $120–$180 per cubic yard in 1-cubic-foot bags. For anything over half a cubic yard, bulk delivery almost always makes more sense.