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Measure · guide

How To Measure A Yard

A focused guide to how to measure a yard for planning your next yard project.

Start with a sketch of the surface you actually intend to cover. Leave out buildings, beds, and permanent features that do not receive material.

Measuring an irregular yard with tape, stakes and paper sketch
Illustrative process view

How to plan it

  1. Mark each straight edge in feet
  2. Split the sketch into rectangles, triangles, or circles
  3. Add the areas and record exclusions separately
Find area from measured shapesA rectangle uses length times width. A triangle uses one half base times height.lengthwidthbase × height ÷ 2rectangle = length × width
A rectangle uses length times width. A triangle uses one half base times height.
Check before buying: Measure more than once where boundaries bend or taper.

Turn this into a quantity

Record your site measurements first. Then use a calculator with the depth, application rate, or coverage from the actual material specification.

Open yard area calculator

Source and limits

University of Maryland Extension: Determining the area/size of a practice. Local conditions and manufacturer guidance may call for different materials or installation details.

Before you buy

Measure · articleMeasure An Irregular Bed Without Buying For The GapsBreak an irregular bed into nonoverlapping shapes, subtract exclusions, and carry one measured area into your material calculators.Open page