Bulk Landscape Materials for Lanes, Trenches and Beds
Mason Sand
Mason Sand helps Pennsylvania mortar and stucco show a smooth, clean appearance rather than a harsh construction-sand texture. It also suits sandboxes and volleyball courts. Size: Ultra-fine, consistent grain size. Grading: Washed to remove clay, silt and organic impurities.
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Washed Sand
Washed Sand is clean, coarse material for concrete mixing, leveling, and backfill work on Pennsylvania projects where clean fill matters. Size: Coarse-grained. Grading: Washed; free of clay, silt and organic debris.
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This is a long list to read through when what you have is a soft patch of lane and a tape measure. The quickest way in is to decide which of five families the job belongs to, because within a family the choice is mostly size, and between families a wrong pick undoes the work. Every listing below carries its size, grading and weight per cubic yard, and these bulk landscape materials are delivered by dump truck.
What goes under a drive, a pad or a shed floor
Fines are the dust and grit below a quarter inch. Left in the blend they fill the gaps between the angular pieces, so the layer compacts dense and spreads a wheel load instead of letting it punch into soft subgrade. 2A Modified at one inch minus is the standard base under drives, pads, shed floors and turnarounds here. Crusher Run at three quarter inch minus does the same job in a smaller top size. Driveway Gravel is the graded surface course that goes over a compacted base, and Walkway Gravel is the finer version for paths. Screenings at quarter inch minus is the bedding layer under pavers and flagstone. 2A is the number a local spec and a local yard write for that blend, and the listing carries the size and grading behind it rather than an approval.
Clean stone by the number, where water has to keep moving
Wash the fines out and the voids stay open. That is drainage stone, and it does not compact hard, which is the point. 2B Stone is the three quarter inch clean stone most trenches around here get. #57 Stone is the washed graded size carried under its AASHTO number; check the size and grading on each listing before choosing between the two. #67 Stone runs slightly smaller for French drains and concrete work. #8 Crushed Stone, the chip yards still call 1B, and #89 Crushed Stone suit joints, bedding and tight work. 3/8" Crushed Stone tops a prepared base. Going the other way, #4 Crushed Stone and Railroad Ballast form the open, coarse layer under construction entrances and equipment pads, and Drain Rock is washed material for backfill behind walls and around pipe.
Rounded stone for beds, and armor stone for moving water
River Rock at one to three inches and Large River Rock at two to four inches are water-worn and smooth, for borders, dry creek beds and anywhere the stone is meant to be looked at. 3/8" Natural Pea Gravel is the small rounded one for paths and play areas, loose underfoot because it never locks up. Where water is doing damage rather than decorating, RipRap runs from four inches up. Pennsylvania plans specify rock lining by R-number, R-4 for ditches and culvert outlets and R-5 to R-7 where a bank is cutting back; check the size and grading on the listing against the number on your sheet.
Two sands that are not interchangeable
Mason Sand is fine and uniform, washed clean, and belongs in mortar, stucco, paver joints and sandboxes. Washed Sand is coarse, for concrete mixes, bedding and leveling. Swapping them shows up in the finish: coarse sand in mortar is gritty, fine sand under a slab holds water.
Soil, fill and mulch for the last four inches
Fill Dirt makes up grade and fills holes, and it goes in before anything else. Top Soil is screened growing soil for the upper four to six inches of a lawn or a bed. Garden Soil is the compost-blended version for raised beds and planters. Shredded Mulch finishes planting beds at a two to four inch layer. Soil and mulch are sold by the yard rather than the ton, which the calculator handles for you. Delivery covers the route in and the drop spot before a quantity is committed.
Common questions
Does the catalogue sell by the ton or by the yard?
Stone, gravel and sand are sold by the ton. Soil, fill and mulch are sold by the yard. The unit is stated on each product page, and the calculators return cubic yards and tons together from one set of measurements, so you can order in whichever unit the listing uses without converting anything by hand.
What has to be clear before the truck brings any of this?
A route around twelve feet wide with no low branches or wires, firm ground at the drop spot, and a marked place to put the pile. Move cars and trailers out of the way first. On clay or on glacial ground in a wet spring, check the lane holds a boot print before you assume it holds a loaded axle.
How do I tell whether a listing has fines in it or not?
Read the grading line on the product page. Anything described as minus, or as a graded mix with binding fines, has the dust left in and is built to compact: 2A modified, crusher run, screenings. Anything described as clean or washed, or carried under an AASHTO number such as #57, #67 or #8, has the fines taken out and is built to drain.
How thick should the base go for a car drive against a truck pad?
Driveway work on the calculator depth guide starts around 4 inches of compacted base, which suits a car over firm, draining ground. A pad carrying a truck, tractor or loaded trailer needs a thicker section put down in lifts and compacted between them. On soft clay the figure goes up again, and the drainage underneath matters more than the extra inch on top.