How many burlap bags?

Hello all,

I have a couple restoration projects for my work that are difficult to access and in need of mulch. We have already planted thousands of native plants at both sites and now we are getting ready to mulch them. Normally, we use wood chips but the dump trucks can't get close enough to the sites to make it practical in this case. At one of the sites we had to hire a helicopter to fly in our plants! One option I'm exploring is using old burlap bags - I found a company that I can purchase them from by the pallet load (500 burlap bags per pallet) but I'm unsure how many to use per plant. I'm thinking 2 or 3 would give enough coverage but I would appreciate any advice. The primary goal is weed suppression and the sites are in old pasture fields at a dairy - I'm restoring a 150 foot riparian buffer along a creek that flows through the dairy.

The company that sells them offers a non-profit discount and seems to focus on restoration projects and community projects. Since I'm sure someone will mention this - I can't find them locally from coffee shops in quantities that I need. I need between 6,000 and 9,000 burlap bags for one of my sites and potentially upwards of 15,000 for another site and I need them delivered all at once to the sites. I have crews already lined up to do the work for me but now I need to figure out how many burlap bags to order. I'm also looking into using a different product that is marketed to farmers that we have used at another restoration site but I want to compare the costs between that option and burlap bags.

Thanks all!