Bulk Landscape Materials, Sorted by What the Ground Is Doing

Almost every choice in this catalogue comes back to one question: is the ground holding water or shedding it. Piedmont red clay holds it, so the work goes into a compacted layer and a route for the water to leave. Coastal Plain sand sheds it and offers nothing to bind, so the binding has to come out of the stone. Sort the catalogue that way and it stops being a grid of names.

If wheels are going to cross it

Base material here is a graded blend carrying fines, which is what lets it lock together under compaction.

• ABC Stone, one inch minus, the default under drives, pads and turnarounds.
• Crush and Run, three-quarter inch minus, the same idea finishing tighter under a patio or a small pad.
• Driveway Gravel at three-quarter inch, for surfacing over a base that is already compacted.
• Railroad Ballast, one to two and a half inches, where a hard standing has to stay open and drain under heavy use.

If water has to get through it rather than off it

Washed stone is specified by number in this state, and the fines are gone, which is the whole point.

• #57 Stone, 3/16 to 1 inch, for French drains, trench bottoms and concrete.
• #67 Stone, a quarter to three-quarter inch, the same job at a tighter size.
• 3/4" Crushed Stone for angular support with drainage.
• Drain Rock, three-quarter to one and a half inch, washed, for drywells, downspout runs and wall backfill.
• #4 Crushed Stone, 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches, for construction entrances and a coarse first lift over soft clay.
• #8 Crushed Stone and #89 Crushed Stone at the small end, for joints, bedding and mixes.

If the storm took the bank or the outfall with it

Runoff on clay slopes, stream banks and shoreline after tropical weather is the erosion story here.

• RipRap, four to twelve inches and up, for slopes, channels, banks and culvert outlets.
• Large River Rock, two to four inches, where a dry creek has to look deliberate as well as carry water.

If it is walked on rather than driven on

• Walkway Gravel at three-eighths inch over a prepared base.
• 3/8" Crushed Stone for a firm, compacted path surface.
• 3/8" Natural Pea Gravel, rounded and comfortable underfoot, for play areas and seating.
• Screenings, quarter inch minus, the bedding layer under pavers and flagstone.
• River Rock, one to three inches, for bed cover and borders that hold their shape season to season.

If it has to be bedded, jointed or mixed

• Mason Sand, ultra-fine and washed, for mortar, paver joints and play sand.
• Washed Sand, coarse and washed, for leveling, trench backfill and mixes.

If something has to grow in it, or the grade is wrong

• Fill Dirt for the structural work of raising a low corner before anything else goes on.
• Top Soil, screened, for the lawn layer over clay that will otherwise grow grass badly.
• Garden Soil, compost enriched, for beds, vegetables and raised planters.
• Shredded Mulch, hardwood, two to four inches deep in beds and tree rings.

Every listing carries its size and grading, and the calculators turn a measured area into tons before you commit to a quantity. How a load is delivered covers access and the drop spot.

My figure sits between two tonnages. Do I round up or down?

Which of these listings is what a plan sheet calls aggregate base course?

Does it matter what time of year I put the material down?

My patio is an L shape. How do I get a quantity for it?