About LawnStarter

What this site is for

Most yard projects stall on the same question: how much do I actually need? Get it wrong low and you make a second trip mid-job. Get it wrong high and you have half a pallet of pavers behind the shed for three years.

Every calculator here answers that question and then shows you exactly how it got there, the formula, a worked example, and the assumptions it made along the way. If our number disagrees with your supplier's, you can see which step you disagree with rather than guessing.

How we write

These are the rules we hold ourselves to, and they are worth stating plainly:

• No invented statistics. If we do not have a figure, we say what to measure instead of manufacturing a number.
• No fake experts or fabricated reviews. Content is published under the site's name because that is honest. We do not invent a horticulturist byline or a review panel that does not exist, and we do not publish “best of” product roundups for things we have not tested.
• Ranges where ranges are the truth. Bulk material density and landscape pricing genuinely vary. Presenting a single confident number for either would be more precise and less accurate.
• Assumptions stated. When a recommendation depends on your climate, soil, or local code, we say so rather than writing as though one answer fits everywhere.
• Corrections, not quiet edits. The update date on a page reflects a real change to its substance, not a cosmetic refresh to look current.

Where AI fits

Some calculators offer an assistant that turns your results into a project plan, a shopping list, or a maintenance schedule. It only ever receives numbers that were already computed by deterministic code, it never does arithmetic, and it cannot change a result.

That boundary is deliberate and it is enforced in the code, not just in a prompt. Language models are genuinely useful for sequencing a job and flagging what usually goes wrong. They are the wrong tool for multiplying area by depth. Our methodology page covers this in more detail.

What we are not

We are not a contractor, and we do not sell materials or take referral fees for sending you to one. We also cannot tell you what your local code requires, permit thresholds, fence heights, retaining wall engineering, and fertilizer restrictions are all local, and the only reliable answer comes from your building department.

Before any digging, call 811. It is free, it is fast, and it is required in most of the US.

Get in touch

Found an error, a broken formula, or a figure that has drifted out of date? Tell us. Corrections from people who actually do this work are the most useful mail we get.