Bulk Landscape Materials, Chosen by What Holds Water

The pile that ends up in your drive will come off two of the entries here. Almost every job on Massachusetts ground is a layered job: something underneath that packs hard, something over it that drains or gets walked on. These bulk landscape materials are set out in that order, starting at the bottom of the hole.

Blends that keep their fines, for layers that carry weight

These compact. Under a plate or a roller the fine material migrates into the voids between the larger pieces and the layer sets up firm.

• Processed Gravel, one inch minus, the standard Massachusetts base under drives, pads and shed bases. Local yards also call a blend like it dense grade.
• Crusher Run, 3/4 inch minus, tighter and easier to screed level under a patio.
• Stone Dust, 1/4 inch minus, the regional setting bed under pavers, bluestone and packed paths.
• Driveway Gravel at 3/4 inch and Walkway Gravel at 3/8 inch, graded surfacing over a finished base.

None of these belongs in a drain. The same fines that make them pack will silt a trench up.

Clean stone for a French drain, a trench bottom and a scoured bank

Clean stone drains because nothing fine is left in it. That also means it stays loose and will not lock together, so it is the wrong answer under a paver.

• 3/4" Crushed Stone at about 3/4 inch and #57 Stone at 3/16 to 1 inch, for drainage beds, trench bottoms and foundation backfill.
• #67 Stone at 1/4 to 3/4 inch and 3/8" Crushed Stone, for pipe bedding and topping a compacted base.
• #8 Crushed Stone and #89 Crushed Stone, small and washed, for paver joints and flagstone setting.
• Drain Rock at 3/4 to 1-1/2 inch, washed clean, for drywells, foundation drains and downspout runs.
• #4 Crushed Stone at about 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches and Railroad Ballast at roughly one to 2.5 inches, for construction entrances, hard standing and severe drainage.
• RipRap at four to twelve inches and up, for a stream bank after a hard rain or a shore bank taking nor'easter surge.

Rounded stone for the surface people stand on and look at

• Pea Stone, about 3/8 inch. The name almost every Massachusetts buyer uses in place of pea gravel.
• River Rock at one to three inches and Large River Rock at two to four, both smooth and rounded, in tans, grays and browns.

Rounded stone rolls underfoot, so keep it inside firm edging rather than expecting it to hold a line.

Loam, garden soil, clean fill and mulch over stony till

Native ground across most of the state is stony glacial till, which is why growing work here starts with imported material instead of what comes out of the hole.

• Top Soil, screened loam, for lawns, turf and bed prep.
• Garden Soil, blended with compost, for raised beds and planting areas.
• Fill Dirt, sold locally as clean fill, screened and low in organic matter, for bulk grade changes with loam kept for the finish.
• Shredded Mulch, natural brown hardwood, laid two to four inches deep on beds and tree rings.

Bedding sand, and the inch that sits under a paver

Mason Sand is the ultra-fine washed grade for mortar, paver joints and play areas. Washed Sand, which yards around here call concrete sand, is coarser and goes into mixes, pipe bedding and leveling.

A paver patio takes a compacted base and exactly one inch of bedding sand. More than that and the pavers move.

Ton or cubic yard: which unit these bulk landscape materials use

Gravel and stone go by the ton. Mulch and soil go by the cubic yard. The product page states which unit applies, and the material calculators return cubic yards, tons and cubic feet together so nothing has to be converted by hand. How a load is delivered covers the route in and the drop spot.

Why is some of this ordered by the ton and the rest by the cubic yard?

Where will the driver leave a load this size?

Which of these have fines in them and which are washed?

How much base does a drive need if a loaded truck uses it?