Planning a garden project
Most garden jobs come down to three questions: how much area or length you're covering, what goes underneath it, and how the material is sold. A lawn is sold by the square metre roll, a fence by the 1.83m panel, decking by the board length and topsoil by the tonne or bulk bag. Each calculator above turns your measurements into those units, so the number you get is the number you order.
Measure once, carefully
- Areas: split odd shapes into rectangles and add them up. Our square metre calculator handles L-shapes, triangles and circles.
- Fences and edges: measure along the actual line, not the plan. Slopes add length and may need stepped panels.
- Depths: a few centimetres of extra topsoil or sub-base makes a large difference to tonnage, so measure the depth you really need after compaction.
What goes underneath matters
Turf needs about 100–150mm of good topsoil, artificial grass needs a compacted sub-base and sharp sand or granite dust, and decks need a weed membrane and level supports. Fence posts are set about a quarter of their length in the ground. The fence guide and sub-base depth guide go into the details.
Budgeting
Every calculator lets you enter your own prices, and some show checked prices from UK merchants. Use Add to job to collect several calculations, say a new fence, a gravel border and fresh turf, into one shopping list on the My jobs page.