Jim from up the street spruced up his yard and now your lovely wife marvels at it every time you drive by. Thanks Jim. Next thing you know, a home landscaping project is calling your name. We know. We’ve been there.
The good news is that your instinct is right – you don't need to hire a professional landscaper. Take advantage of the free resources out there and you can definitely pull it off yourself. Updating your home landscape requires minimal knowledge and is an ideal do-it-yourself project; and, with an expert resource and partner like Online Stone Solutions, you can save significant time and money.
One of the initial and most important things do-it-yourself landscapers must learn is how to calculate the amount of stone you’re going to need to complete your landscaping project. Under-estimate the number significantly and your landscape will look bare and incomplete; on the other hand, ordering too many rocks means you throw good money away and have to store or dispose of the excess.
Calculating the right amount of landscape rock requires a little high school-level math. As you will see below, Online Stone Solutions’ website features a unique Coverage Calculator which streamlines the entire process, saving you hassle and headache.
Key Steps
- Using a tape measure, determine the width and length of the area to be covered in feet. (If area is over 50 feet, consider using a measuring wheel instead of measuring tape.)
- Calculate the area by multiplying the width by the length. If your width is 4 feet and your length is 5 feet, then your area is 20 square feet. If your area isn’t a square or rectangle please use an internet search to determine the correct formula.
- Determine your desired depth for your landscape rocks. Every application is different so it is impossible to tell you how deep you need to install our product. As a rule of thumb, for ground cover landscape installations, use the depth listed on our site as a minimum for that specific product and size. If it will be installed in heavily traveled area where material tends to get more easily displaced you should most likely increase the depth by 1”-2”.
After completing those three short steps, Online Stone Solutions’ easy-to-use Coverage Calculator will crunch the numbers for you and determine the optimal amount of rocks needed for your landscape project. In an instant you will know the price, the weight of your rocks, and the number of pallets they’ll arrive in, so you can allocate adequate space and storage in your yard. It’s much easier and faster than other landscaping calculators which require you to calculate additional measurements like cubic feet and then convert them into cubic yards.
While our Coverage Calculator provides a very accurate estimate, keep in mind that every job is unique and there may be variance in the actual coverage of stone that is required to complete your project. The calculator is set to determine the amount of stone needed if used in a loose ground cover area such as a dry riverbed or decorative planting beds. If your intended application is different then you will most likely need to contact us directly for a more accurate calculation.
For your next home landscaping project, shop our catalog of decorative stone and look for our intuitive Coverage Calculator under the title of our product pages.
For more information, check out our FAQ.