Project book · a morning

Fix a patchy lawn

Seed, feed and water. Two weeks of watching nothing happen, then it fills in.

How much lawn?

square feet

This fits in a car

About 118 lb of materials. Comfortably inside what a car carries (200 lb), so any shopper can take it.

What to buy — untick anything you have

Lawn

Soil

Tools — already ticked off, since most people have them

Tools

It lands in the shopping form, where you can edit anything and say what you think each thing costs. Nothing is ordered until you send it.

How it goes · about a morning · beginner

  1. Mow shorter than usual and rake the dead thatch out. Seed has to reach soil, not sit on straw.
  2. Spread the seed with the spreader, half in one direction and half across it, so you do not stripe it.
  3. Spread the starter fertiliser the same way.
  4. Scatter a thin layer of topsoil over the bare patches, no more than a quarter inch.
  5. Keep it damp for two weeks. Little and often beats a soaking every few days.

Something else

Build a raised garden bedMulch a flower bedPaint a roomPut up garage shelvingBuild a fire pitMount a TV on the wallCookout for a crowd

Feeding people instead? The recipe book works the same way — pick a meal, say how many, every ingredient lands on the list.

Fix a patchy lawn — everything for it, in one tap · DriverRuns