How Satellite Measurement Prices a Lawn Without a Visit

We find your home on satellite images and trace each patch of grass: front, back, side strips and the boulevard. That gives us your lawn's real size in square feet or metres. Then we add what changes the work, like how often you want it cut, trimming, slopes and gates. You get one price by text within 60 minutes, from 7am to 8pm. Nobody visits, and you don't need to be home.

What happens after you send your address?

Your part takes about two minutes. The quote form asks for your address, your city, the jobs you want and how often. There's no credit card and no phone call.

Here's what happens on our side in that hour:

1. We pull up your address on satellite images.
2. We trace the outline of each grass area on the screen.
3. The map tool adds up the area inside those lines.
4. We cut out the parts that aren't grass, like beds and the patio.
5. We look at what your crew has to work around.
6. We build the price from the size, the jobs you picked and how often.
7. We text it to you.

Send the form at 11pm and we won't wake you. Your price comes after 7am the next morning.

Which parts of the yard get measured?

Only the grass your crew will cut. From above, the lawn breaks into shapes that are easy to trace:

• The front lawn. Often split in two by the driveway or the walk.
• The back yard. The part you can't see from the street, and often the biggest.
• Side strips. The narrow runs between your house and the fence.
• The boulevard. The grass between the sidewalk and the road, if you have one.

Then we take out what sits inside those shapes. A pool, a deck, a shed or a wide flower bed isn't lawn. Neither is the shady spot under a big spruce where nothing grows.

That's why your lawn is smaller than your lot. Our post on why lawn care is priced by lawn size explains the gap between the two.

Is lawn mowing priced per square foot?

Sort of. Size is the base of every price, and size is counted in square feet or square metres. But it isn't a straight rate where you multiply your lawn by one number.

Here's why a flat rate per square foot doesn't fit real yards:

• Every visit has a starting cost. The crew drives over, unloads and loads up again. That's the same for a tiny lawn and a big one.
• Shape matters. One wide, open back yard cuts fast. The same area in thin strips and curves takes longer.
• Edges take time. A lawn with lots of beds, posts and fence lines needs more trimming per square foot.
• Big open areas go faster. Long straight passes cover more grass per minute.

So two lawns of the same size can get different prices. That's fair, because one takes your crew longer every single week.

Square feet or square metres?

Canada uses both, and quotes can come either way. Measurement Canada's conversion table gives the numbers:

• Square feet to square metres: multiply by 0.0929.
• Square metres to square feet: multiply by 10.764.
• One metre is about 3.28 feet.

So a 1,000 square foot lawn is about 93 square metres. A back yard that's 20 metres by 5 metres is 100 square metres, or about 1,076 square feet.

What else goes into the price besides size?

Size sets the base. These things move the price up or down from there.

How often you want it cut

Weekly costs more per season than every two weeks, since there are more visits. But each weekly cut is often easier. The City of Calgary's lawn care page says not to take off more than one third of the grass length at each cut. In a wet spring, grass can pass that line fast between visits. Our post on weekly vs every two weeks mowing helps you pick.

The jobs you picked

• Lawn mowing on its own.
• Trimming and edging along fences, beds and walks.
• Hedge and shrub trimming, priced by hedge length and height.
• Spring or fall cleanup, where leaf volume and haul-away matter most.

What's in the yard

Slopes, trees, beds, play sets and tight gates all slow a crew down. A back yard you can only reach through a narrow gate may need a smaller mower. All of that adds time, so it adds to the price.

How accurate is a satellite measurement?

For size, it's close. You see the whole yard at once, behind the fence and around the side. That's often more than a quick walk from the sidewalk shows.

But a picture from above has limits. Here's what it can't always show:

• New changes. Images can be out of date. A new deck or a bed you just dug may not show yet.
• Grass under trees. A big canopy can hide what's under it.
• Gates, locks and dogs. These matter on the day, but they don't show from the sky.
• How tall the grass is now. A lawn that's been let go needs more work on the first cut.

If any of these fit your yard, just reply to the price text and tell us. "We put in a pool this summer" or "the side gate has a code" is all it takes.

Why not just send someone to look?

A site visit means booking a time and waiting at home. Then you wait again for the written quote. That can take a week. In May, a week of growth is a lot of grass.

Satellite measuring skips all of that. It also means the price fits your actual yard, not a guess based on your street or your house size.

How do you compare a per-square-foot quote with ours?

Put both on the same footing first. A rate per square foot only tells you part of the story.

1. Ask what area they measured. Front only, or front and back?
2. Ask what each visit includes. Mowing only, or trimming and edging too?
3. Ask how many visits are in the season.
4. Multiply the price per visit by the number of visits.
5. Add any extras they named, like bagging or a first cut on long grass.

Now you're looking at the full season, not one cut. Our post on why the cheapest lawn quote can cost more covers what to watch for.

Who does the work after you say yes?

Golden Oak Lawn Care matches you with a vetted, insured local partner crew. They do the work. We stand behind it with the Golden Oak Guarantee.

Like the price? Reply yes. You and your crew set your day and a time window. With The Worry-Free Lawn Season, you get:

• The same crew every visit, so they learn your yard.
• A photo texted to you after every cut.
• On-Time Guarantee: if your crew misses your scheduled window, that cut is free.
• Love-It Guarantee: not happy? Text us a photo within 24 hours. Your crew re-cuts it free within 48 hours.
• The season paid up front. Pause for vacations by text. Cancel anytime and we refund half of your unused visits.
• Your first cut free when you book the season.

Want it handled? Get your price in 60 minutes, or call 1-866-904-LAWN.

Satellite Lawn Measurement Questions

Sources: Measurement Canada conversion table, City of Calgary lawn care.