How to Measure Your Yard for Seed

Whether you want to establish a dense, vigorous turfgrass lawn or plan to sow a seed mixture of native wildflowers and prairie grasses, knowing the approximate area of a site is important. Estimating the yard's area with a high degree of accuracy will ensure that you purchase enough seed, eliminating the need for multiple orders or trips to the store. It will also stop you from ordering much more seed than is required for the task, a potentially costly error.

Measuring tape
Calculator (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Draw a diagram of your yard using a paper and pencil or pen, dividing the site where you will sow the seed into simple geometric shapes like rectangles, triangles and circles.
- 2
  Measure the necessary dimensions of each of the simple shapes in the yard and record these numbers on the diagram. Use a measuring tape to determine any rectangle's length and width and the radius of any circle in feet. For triangles, measure the length of one side, the base, and the distance between the point opposite the base and where a line between that point meets the base at a 90-degree angle, the triangle's height.
- 3
  Calculate the area of each of the subsections of the yard. To determine a rectangle's area, multiply its length by its width, or two adjacent sides. A circle's approximate area is determined by multiplying the radius by itself and then multiplying the resulting number by 3.14. A triangle's area is its base multiplied by its height and 1/2.
- 4
  Add the areas of each of the subsections together to determine the total area of the site that you plan to seed in square feet.
- 5
  Multiply the area of your yard by the rate of application for the seed to determine the amount of seed required for the task.

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