Oakdell Organic Compost

How to Use our Landscaping Calculator

How Much Compost Do You Need?

For estimating quantity needed for irregular areas break the area up into smaller workable shapes. Measure each of them and assign them a letter. Calculate square feet for each and add the square footage together to figure total needed.

Rectangle

• Length (in feet) x Width (in feet) = square feet
• Determine desired depth of material (typically between ⅛" - ¼” for lawns, and ½” - 1" for gardens)
• Example: To determine how much you will need in rectangular area 16 feet long by 25 feet wide at 0.25 (same as ¼”) deep of compost. Calculate: (16 x 25 = 400 square feet x 0.25)/324 = 0.3086 cubic yards; this times 27 = 8.33 one cubic foot bags.

Triangle

• Measure length and width of 2 sides
• Length x Width x 0.5 = square feet
• Example: Given a triangle where one side is 50 feet long, one side is 25 feet long at 0.25 (same as ¼”) deep of Oakdell Organic Compost calculate: (50 x 25 x 0.5 = 625 square feet x 0.25)/324 = 0.4823 cubic yards; this times 27 = 13 one cubic foot bags.

Circle

• Determine radius (½ distance of circle diameter, or distance across)
• Formula: Radius x Radius x 3.14 = square feet
• Example: Given a circle 30 feet across (15 ft radius) and you want 0.25 (same as ¼”) deep calculate (15 x 15 x 3.14 = 706.5 square feet x 0.25)/324 = 0.5451 cubic yards; this times 27 = 14.7 one cubic foot bags

Soil Enhancement

For most applications, evenly mix 1" of compost into 4-5" of soil.

Flowers and Landscape Beds

• New Beds: mix one inch into four inches of soil.
• Existing Beds: evenly spread ½" on the top and mix in with soil to help avoid a hard cap forming.

Lawns

• New Lawns: evenly mix up to 1" of compost into 3-4" of soil.
• Existing Lawns: evenly spread ⅛” - ¼” and water in.
• Early Spring Application: evenly spread ⅛” - ¼” and water in. Repeat as needed in 30-45 days.
• Fall Application: evenly spread ⅛” - ¼” and water in. Aeration before the application can help.

Trees and Scrubs

• New Plantings: mix 20% Oakdell Organic Compost with high-quality parent soil.
• Existing Plants: evenly spread ⅜” - ½” around wide base of trees or shrubs and mix in with soil to help avoid a hard cap forming.

Vegetable Gardens

• Spring: evenly mix up to one inch into four inches of soil.
• Twice a year: loosen soil and evenly spread one-half to one inch surrounding the area where plants are growing and mix in with soil to help avoid a hard cap forming.
• Fall: for final garden preparation, evenly mix 1" of compost into the top 4-5" of soil and let it rest for the winter.

Roses

• New Plantings: mix 20% Oakdell Organic compost with high-quality parent soil.
• Existing Plants: evenly spread ⅜” - ½” around a wide base of trees or shrubs and mix in with soil to help avoid a hard cap forming.

Watering Instructions

Overwatering can be more harmful to plant growth than under-watering. Plants are like people, they need air to breathe too. Let your soil dry out a bit between watering. Too frequent of watering will not force plant roots to go deep into the soil where they need to be. Oakdell’s Organic Compost can help add critical organic matter to your soil, which is essential to proper moisture retention properties of your soil.

Larger Areas

The following formula gives the number of Cubic Yards (27 cubic feet = one cubic yard) you need to apply: (# of sq ft multiplied by depth of compost to apply in inches) divided by 324. For Example: If you want to apply 0.25 (same as ¼”) deep (you don’t need more than this for lawns) compost to a 2,500 square foot lawn, you would need 1.93 cubic yards of Oakdell Organic Compost. Here is how we did it: (2,500 x 0.25)/324 = 1.93 cubic yards.