Pine Straw Calculator
One hundred square feet at a 2 inch layer is 1 bale when one bale covers 100 square feet at that depth.
Last updated . Bale depth starts at two inches. The bed opens at 10 by 10 feet. Coverage opens at 100.
A pine straw calculator for bales. Area is length times width. Bales scale a coverage that is quoted at 2 inches, then round up. The 100 in the box is a cited extension figure, and it is replaceable.
Bark or wood-chip mulch by the yard: mulch calculator. A compost layer on a bed: compost calculator.
Pine straw bales
100 is the January 2004 Texas A&M AgriLife figure for a 40-pound bale at 2 inches, publication L-5447, and you can replace it. Depth scales that figure. A round-bale cubic-foot range is not used for the count.
Results
Bales from one extension sentence
L-5447 says a 40-pound bale will typically cover about 100 square feet, a 10- by 10-foot bed, to a 2-inch depth. Eric L. Taylor and C. Darwin Foster wrote that January 2004 AgriLife note. At 2 inches the bale count is the bed area divided by the coverage you leave in the box, rounded up. At another depth the form multiplies by (depth in inches ÷ 2) before that division. A 10 by 10 bed at 3 inches needs 1.5 of those bales, which rounds up to 2.
The same note says a new layer is often about 3 inches and settles toward 1.5 inches, and it gives a round bale as 25 to 50 pounds and 3 to 6 cubic feet. Those cubic feet are not the divisor here. They do not reproduce 100 square feet at 2 inches, so mixing them in would change the count. The PDF is oaktrust.library.tamu.edu.
Worked bed
| Bed | Depth | Coverage at 2 in | Bales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft (100.00 ft²) | 2 in | 100 | 1 |
| 10 × 10 ft | 3 in | 100 | 2 |
| 100 × 10 ft (1,000.00 ft²) | 2 in | 100 | 10 |
Pine straw questions
How many bales cover a 10 by 10 bed at 2 inches?
Leave length 10 ft, width 10 ft, depth 2 in, and coverage 100. The area line reads 100.00 ft² · 9.29 m². Bales reads 1. That coverage is the L-5447 figure for a 40-pound bale, and it is already in the box so you can replace it.
What if the same bed is 3 inches deep?
Leave length 10 ft, width 10 ft, and coverage 100. Set depth to 3 in. The area line stays 100.00 ft² · 9.29 m². Bales reads 2. The unrounded need is 1.5 bales, and the form rounds up.
How many bales cover 1,000 square feet at 2 inches?
Set length to 100 ft and width to 10 ft. Leave depth at 2 in and coverage at 100. Bed area reads 1,000.00 ft² · 92.90 m². Bales reads 10.
Where does 100 square feet come from?
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension publication L-5447, January 2004, “Pine Straw as a Ground Cover Mulch,” by Eric L. Taylor and C. Darwin Foster, says a 40-pound bale will typically cover about 100 square feet, a 10- by 10-foot bed, to a 2-inch depth. This form scales that area by depth ÷ 2. It does not divide the bed by the bulletin’s 3-to-6 cubic foot note for a round bale. The PDF is oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstreams/5ac6d3d5-9673-4a24-8574-27d301d8e2e1/download.
What if I replace the coverage?
That field is the area one bale blankets when the layer is 2 inches thick. Type a different number and the bale line uses yours. At 10 ft by 10 ft and depth 2 in, coverage 50 returns 2 bales, because 100 ÷ 50 is 2.
What if coverage is emptied?
Empty the coverage field and leave length 10 ft, width 10 ft, and depth 2 in. The area line still reads 100.00 ft² · 9.29 m². Bales reads Enter a coverage.
Does a zero depth still count a bale?
Set depth to 0 and leave the bed and the coverage. The area line still reads 100.00 ft² · 9.29 m². Bales reads 0.