This past Saturday on our radio show (“The Garden Clinic” on
WTMA from noon to one on Saturday) Paul and I got a call from a guy that wanted
to put out a wetting agent, but had no idea what the square footage of his yard
is. We were having a hard time convincing him to measure his landscape, so he
would know how much product to apply (whether it is a wetting agent, fertilizer
or control product knowing the size of your yard is crucial).
Knowing the square footage of your grass areas and bed areas
are key to applying any fertilizer or control product correctly. An old
bathroom scale and bucket also aid in the proper application of products. If
your yard is 8,000 square feet and you want to apply a product at 4 pounds per
thousand square feet, then 8 times 4 is equal to 32 pounds of product. Get a
bathroom scale and a five gallon bucket. Pour 32 pounds into the bucket and
apply it equally across the yard.
I can remember several times hearing different variations of
this same answer to my question while at the counter at Possum’s. “How many
square feet is your yard?” Rough answer,” well, last year I put out that bag
that covers 5000 square feet and it was perfect for my yard, so I must have
5000 square feet.” Sorry, wrong answer.
Based on a pound of nitrogen, we sell 50 pound bags that
cover as much as 23,000 square feet and as little as 1000 square feet.
Unfortunately, the bag does not know the size of our yards or how fast you walk.
In the old days, yards were mostly square or rectangular,
and they were easy to measure. Now most yards have curvy bed lines that sweep
across the landscape, making them more difficult to measure. If you can break
the yard up into little squares or rectangles, and measure the length and the
width then you can get your square footage. Length multiplied by width will
give you your square footage. Add up all the squares and rectangles that you
measured the square feet of, and you will come up with the square footage of
your yard.
If this sounds like total “Greek or Geek” to you, ask a
landscaper, a realtor, a landscape
architect, someone that works with floors or carpets, an engineer, a
construction worker, someone who pours driveways, or anyone else that regularly
needs to measure the square footage of something to help you. Your plat map
from when you purchased your house might help as well.
Now, there are even websites that you can log onto and they
will tell you the square footage of your yard. Of course, I like to do it the
old fashion way – length times width.
I know this measuring seems like a pain, but most of us stay
in a house for several years or decades. A little pain spread over several
years of having very useful information is worth it.
Once you measure the yard, put the measurements in about 5
to 10 locations throughout your house, your car (so you have it with you when
you go to buy product) and the garage, so you do not lose them. I have learned
over the years that I put information like that in one “special place” so I do
not lose the information. I then forget where that “special place” is!
