Homeowners
Free tools for your yard and garden, built by soil scientists. Work out how much material you actually need, check a quote before you pay it, water smarter, and make soil decisions with the working shown.
No ads, no sign-up, and no supplier pays to be listed. Every tool shows how its numbers are calculated, so you can check them yourself.
Buying materials
Landscape materials calculator
How much topsoil, compost, mulch, gravel, road base, sand, sod or grass seed to order, for any shape of yard, in yards, tons, bags or pallets.
Quote checker
See what depth a quote really covers, whether it’s more than you need, and the price per yard and per ton. Includes a yards-to-tons converter.
Raised bed and planter soil
Soil for raised beds, pots and planters, how to fill deep beds for less, and how much soil a tree needs.
Fertilizer label calculator
Turn the N-P-K numbers into how much to spread, and compare the real cost per pound of nutrient.
Watering
Sprinkler catch-cup test
Measure what each zone really puts down, and how evenly, to set run times.
Cycle-and-soak scheduler
Stop runoff on clay and slopes by splitting watering into short cycles.
Drip irrigation calculator
Run times and emitters per plant, and whether the zone can supply them.
Lawn vs low-water landscape
Compare a season’s water use and cost for lawns, low-water plantings and mulch.
Rain barrel calculator
How much your roof collects per storm and per year, and how fast a barrel fills.
Your soil
Soil test translator
A lab report in plain English: what to do, and what you don’t need to buy.
Should I amend my soil?
Check before you buy compost, topsoil or sand, for what you’re planting.
DIY soil tests
Jar, ribbon and drainage tests: find your texture and how fast your soil drains.
Soil pH: lime and sulfur
How much to raise or lower pH, and when lowering it isn’t realistic.
Compost mix calculator
Balance greens and browns, and fix a smelly or slow pile.
Drainage, building and trees
Foundation grading check
Does the ground slope away from your house enough, and how much fill to fix it.
Rain garden and dry well
Size a rain garden or dry well from your roof area and how fast your soil drains.
New-build yard soil check
Find out if construction left you thin topsoil over compacted subsoil, and what to ask your builder.
Frost depth
How deep the ground freezes where you live, for water lines, footings and fence posts.
Tree protection zone
How much space to fence off around a tree before construction or digging.
How to cite these tools: Flynn, T. (2026). Homeowner tools: yard and garden calculators, version 1.0 [software]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23741943. All citations →
Working professionally? See our scientific tools for soil classification, profile modelling and more.