Bulk Landscape Materials for New Hampshire Ground, by the Job

Everything below has a season attached to it. Base and paver work waits until frost is out and mud season has ended, then runs to the first hard freeze, because frozen ground will not compact and April ground swallows stone. Drainage and bank work get done ahead of that window, on the theory that the next thaw is the deadline.

These bulk landscape materials are grouped here by the work rather than by the size, which is the way most people arrive at them.

Rebuilding a drive, a camp road or a pad

Two layers, always. The base spreads the load and keeps water out of the wheel track; the surface takes the tires and the plow.

• Crushed Gravel, one inch minus, the standard base here and the material specified locally as NHDOT Item 304.3
• Crusher Run, 3/4 inch minus, where a finer, tighter pack is wanted
• Driveway Gravel and Walkway Gravel as the wearing course over a finished base
• Railroad Ballast for hard standing and severe conditions

The item number is the local way of specifying a crushed gravel base, not an approval attached to what is delivered.

Getting water away before the next mud season

Thawed soil holding water over ground that is still frozen is the reason half of these orders happen. Clean stone with no fines in it is what keeps a trench working.

• #57 Stone and #67 Stone for French drains, drywells and concrete work
• 3/4" Crushed Stone for drainage beds and construction entrances
• Drain Rock along foundations, downspout runs and culvert bottoms
• #4 Crushed Stone for heavy drainage and trench bottoms
• 3/8" Crushed Stone and #8 Crushed Stone for pipe bedding and fine drainage

Setting a patio, a walk or a step landing

Flatwork in this part of the country beds on stone dust over a compacted base, not on sand alone.

• Stone Dust, 1/4 inch minus, the setting layer under flagstone and pavers
• Mason Sand for brick and block work and paver joints
• Washed Sand for leveling and bedding under slabs
• #89 Crushed Stone for joints and tight bedding
• Pea Stone for walks and play areas, where a rounded 3/8 inch stone suits bare feet

Starting a lawn or a bed over stony till

• Top Soil, screened loam for the top four to six inches under seed or sod
• Garden Soil, blended and lighter, for raised beds and planting holes
• Fill Dirt for the bulk of a low spot or a raised grade, capped with loam
• Shredded Mulch over beds and tree rings once the planting is in

Holding a bank, a culvert outlet or a shoreline

Spring runoff scours stream banks, lake banks lose ground at high water, and nor'easters work at the Seacoast.

• RipRap laid in layers for slopes, outlets and shorelines, over a filter fabric from a landscape supplier
• Large River Rock for dry creek beds and heavier decorative work
• River Rock for borders and beds that are meant to be looked at

Every material carries its size, grading and type on the page. If the job needs a quantity rather than a name, the material calculators take your measurements and return cubic yards and tons. Access and drop-spot rules are on the delivery page, and anything still unclear can go to New Hampshire Rock Supply from the contact page.

Is a camp road one calculation or two?

The pad is soft and holding water. Do I need more base or better drainage?

I have ordered. How do I check it or get more?

What gets set at checkout?