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A light layer of mulch can help protect a tree, retain moisture, and keep the soil healthy. However, it’s important to avoid over-mulching or piling the mulch up around the trunk of a tree, a practice notoriously called “volcano mulching.” That piled mulch can increase the chances of rot and disease on the tree trunk as well as overwhelming the soil, which needs access to a certain amount of air. Topped trees have it hard enough: mulch sparingly while they heal.

Stump grindings are usually safe to use in soil, but in some cases, it’s not recommended. Wood chips in particular can bind nitrogen in the soil, which will make it difficult for grass to grow. That’s why it’s important to remove most wood chips and use healthy garden soil if you want to cover the stump spot with grass. Large wood chips may attract beetles and could encourage the growth of fungi when they decay, so you may want to remove them when using the grindings.

How much 4 yards of dirt will cover depends on how deep you want the soil to be. In general, a yard of dirt will cover 324 square feet for a 1-inch depth or 100 square feet for a 3-inch depth. Therefore, you can expect 4 yards to cover between 400 and 1,296 square feet if you keep your soil depth between 1 and 3 inches.

Determining how many boulders you’ll need for your landscaping project depends on the area you need to cover and how big each boulder is. First, you’ll need to determine how big of an area you want covered, then divide that by the base surface area of the boulders. A landscape professional can help you determine how many boulders will be right for your project.