If you're lucky enough to have a square or rectangular lawn, measuring its area is simplicity itself. Measure the width and the length, and multiply the two together, this gives you your area.

Of course, not all lawns are that easy to measure. As people take more of an interest in the design of their gardens, irregular shapes are increasingly popular. If the shape is relatively simple and made up of separate squares or rectangles, you can measure it by breaking it up as shown in the diagram below.

If your lawn is more complicated than that, we suggest the you use a piece of graph paper to help you measure the area. Measure the width and the length of your garden at various points, and draw an approximation of the shape of your lawn to scale. By counting the number of squares your lawn fills, and "guess-timating" the rest from partially filled squares, you can get a reasonable result. If in doubt, it is always best to round your estimate up rather than down.