How to Measure Your Yard for an Estimate

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Our estimate form asks for your yard size. You don't need to be exact — we measure everything again on the walk-through — but a good guess helps us send the right crew and give you a realistic starting range. This takes about five minutes.

Measure the lawn, not the lot

Mowing, fertilizing and aeration are priced by the square footage of grass. Your lot size from a tax record includes the house, driveway, patio, sidewalks and beds, none of which get mowed. On a typical Larkhaven lot, the lawn is about half to two-thirds of the total.

Option 1: a tape measure and some simple shapes

1. Sketch your yard on a piece of paper: the house, driveway, beds and lawn areas.
2. Break the lawn into simple shapes — rectangles, triangles and circles. Front yard, side strips and back yard are usually separate shapes.
3. Measure each shape with a long tape or by pacing it off. One normal adult stride is roughly 2.5 feet; count steps and multiply.
4. Use these formulas:

Shape	Formula	Example
Rectangle	length × width	60 ft × 40 ft = 2,400 sq ft
Triangle	(base × height) ÷ 2	(30 × 20) ÷ 2 = 300 sq ft
Circle	3.14 × radius × radius	3.14 × 10 × 10 = 314 sq ft

Then subtract anything in the middle of a lawn area (a bed around a tree, a shed, a play set) and add up the shapes. That's your turf area.

Option 2: a free online map

Most free online map services have a measure-area tool in satellite view. Zoom in on your property, trace the outline of each lawn area by clicking around its edges, and the tool shows the area. Trees that hang over the lawn hide the edges, so expect to be off by 10 percent or so. That's close enough for an estimate.

Don't send us screenshots of a map with your address or house visible. The number is all we need.

Which size range are you?

Our form uses these ranges:

• Small — under 5,000 sq ft. Most townhomes and smaller lots in Linden Park and Old Mill.
• Medium — 5,000 to 10,000 sq ft. A typical single-family lot in Briar Hill, Cedar Run or Fox Hollow.
• Large — 10,000 sq ft to half an acre. Many Westbrook Heights and Quarry Lake properties.
• Over half an acre. An acre is 43,560 square feet, so half an acre is about 21,780.

If you're stuck between two, pick the larger one. And if you'd rather skip all of this, choose "Not sure — measure it for me" on the form. That's what the walk-through is for.

Other things worth noting

While you're out there, it helps to jot down:

• Gate width. Our standard mowers need about 36 inches.
• Steep slopes or terraces. They take longer to mow safely.
• Problem spots. Bare patches, soggy areas, places where nothing grows.
• Sprinkler heads and pet fences. We'll flag them before any aeration.

You can add any of this to the notes box on the free estimate form. Please don't include gate, garage or alarm codes — we never need them.