Lawn pros have at least one thing in common…they know how much “actual turf” they have. THIS AIN’T YOUR FRIGGIN’ LOT SIZE! This is grassy area, excluding your driveway and walks, excluding your foundation, excluding your mulch beds, excluding the woods, the creek, etc. Are we clear? To properly manage fertilizer and pesticide applications, you’ve got to know how much actual turf you have. After you’ve perfected your turf, when it’s lush, thick and weed free then you’re allowed to can call it your “sward.”

It’s not hard to figure out. Just get within 10% and we’ll be happy, and so will you, because your applications will be accurate enough for you to achieve good results. THE Turf Plan^SM ain’t rocket science, but it is horticultural science, and it requires a modicum of common sense. That’s a whole ‘nother issue, right?

For those of you with absolutely no common sense, here are the steps to follow that will provide you an accurate measure of your actual turf area:

1. Find a pencil and a notepad.

2. For this exercise, simply assume a “large step” is a three feet. You can use a tape measure to estimate more precisely, but that’s not really necessary.

3. Mentally divide your lawn into “pieces” of even geometrical shapes and pace them off. For example, make a rectangle out of your front yard and pace the length and the width.

4. Sketch it quickly on the pad, and count the number of paces it takes to get the dimensions. Disregard mulch rings around trees and don’t worry about little ins and outs of landscape edges. Complete the rest of the yard in a similar manner.

5. Simply multiply the number of paces X 3 feet and figure out the square footage of each geometric shape.

6. Include the grass between the sidewalk and street! It’s a harsh environment, so you need to give it TLC.

7. Tally it all up and round it to the nearest 0.5 thousands sq ft. In the world of turf science, “M” represents a thousand square feet. Thus, 12,500 sq ft is written as “12.5 M”.

8. Save this paper in a file, or in a place, until it’s fully committed to your memory.

9. There you have it, the REAL size of your yard. Once calculated you have real power. You have officially earned the right to act like a know-it-all at the water cooler.

Some of you may be wondering why we’re making such a big deal out of this. It’s all about the dose, that’s why. THE Turf Plan helps you manage your nitrogen, but if you’re applying a 50 lb bag of 25-0-3 fertilizer to a yard that’s only 8M, you’ve applied 50% more nitrogen than the turf can handle. That’s not good for your turf, because you’ll force it to be succulent and weak, with a poor root system. That’s not good for your wallet, either! Perhaps even more important is the proper application of your preemergent crabgrass herbicide. Apply it too thin, and you’ll suffer from crabgrass all season long. Apply it too heavily, and you might stunt your turf, or prevent your reseeding efforts in September.

If you’re not willing to calculate your turf area we won’t be able to help you…you’re better off hiring a national chain to take care of your yard.