Calculators
Simple math for the jobs in your plan. Everything is worked out in your browser: nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere.
How much mulch or compost?
Area times depth gives the volume to buy.
Depths this app's recommendations use (tap to fill, in inches):
Bags, price and extra (optional)
Check the bag label. Sizes vary.
Some people allow extra for uneven ground.
Enter the area and the depth to see how much you need.
Sold by the ton? Ask the seller what a cubic yard weighs. It changes with the material and how wet it is. If you do not know where compost or wood chips came from, grow a few bean or pea seedlings in a pot of it before using a lot. See the soil food web page.
How much water is that?
Turn inches of water over an area into gallons. One inch over one square foot is a little over half a gallon.
To see how much your sprinkler puts out, set out a straight-sided can and measure the water in it after a run.
Enter the area and the inches to see the amount.
How much seed?
Type in the seeding rate from your seed label or a rate table, and the area you are sowing. This does not suggest a rate: rates depend on the plant and on how it is sown.
Enter the area and the rate to see how much seed.
For South Dakota, see the NRCS South Dakota cover crops page (species, rates and depths) and the SDSU Extension cover crop decision tool. Those tables are written for farm fields, so check whether a rate assumes a seed drill, and read the label on your seed.
Water-soak test: how fast?
You pressed a can into the soil, poured in water, and timed it. Type in the seconds to see how many inches of water soak in per hour.
Enter the seconds to see the speed.
There is no pass or fail here. What matters is the change in your own spot, tested the same way under similar moisture each season. Do not test right after heavy rain or when the soil is frozen. Log it in your journal to see it on a chart.