Bulk Landscape Materials, From Rip Rap Down to Screenings

The most common mix-up on an order here is not a size. It is whether the stone still has its fines in it. Washed grades and stone with the crusher dust left in can look close to identical in a pile on a clay drive, and they behave nothing alike: one keeps a route open for water, the other locks up under a roller and carries weight. Everything below is set out from the largest stone down, with the distinction marked at each step.

Armor stone, where the water is doing the moving

The top of the ladder is for water that has already started taking ground away. RipRap is the machined armor for a scoured creek bank, a ditch line or a culvert outlet, and it is placed in a layer rather than spread. Large River Rock at two to four inches gives a dry creek bed or a slope feature the same weight with a rounded face, and River Rock at one to three inches is the same rounded stone a size down, for borders and bed cover rather than for holding a face. Railroad Ballast is coarse stone for track beds, hard standing and severe drainage, and #4 Crushed Stone handles construction entrances and trench bottoms that stay wet.

Washed grades, sized by number for drains and concrete work

These are screened clean, so the voids between the pieces stay open and water moves through them. Drain Rock at three quarters to one and a half inches goes behind retaining walls and down French drains. #57 Stone at 3/16 to 1 inch is the general drainage and concrete size, with #67 Stone a step finer at a quarter to three quarters. 3/4" Crushed Stone suits drainage beds and construction entrances, and 3/8" Crushed Stone is for pipe bedding and fine drainage. Smaller again, #8 and #89 fill paver joints and tight bedding, and rounded 3/8" Natural Pea Gravel is the walkable one for paths and play areas.

Stone with the fines left in, for anything that has to carry a load

Here the dust is the point. Dense Grade Base at one inch minus is the graded mix for a lane, a long drive or an equipment pad. Crusher Run at three quarter inch minus is the everyday base under a house drive, a barn pad or a patio. Over a rolled base, Driveway Gravel at three quarters of an inch is the wearing course and Walkway Gravel at three eighths is the finer path finish. Screenings at a quarter inch minus is the bedding and leveling course under pavers, brick and flagstone.

Sand, soil and cover at the bottom of the ladder

Mason Sand is the fine washed grain for mortar, paver joints and play sand, and Washed Sand is the coarser one for bedding, forms and leveling under a slab. For ground work, Fill Dirt builds grade back up, Top Soil is the screened finish layer seed roots into, and Garden Soil is blended with compost for beds. Planting is finished with Shredded Mulch, which holds moisture in a bed through a dry stretch.

Work out the quantity with the material calculators before you choose an amount, since depth changes an order more than area does, and check the drop spot while you are at it.

How do I tell at a glance which of these will drain and which will pack?

Are the three soil listings really different, or is it just naming?

Is this catalogue set up for trade buyers as well as homeowners?

Do I order the depth I want, or more than that, if it is being compacted?