I used Mulch Mound to have 3 cubic yards of garden soil delivered. The process was easy and I love that I didn't have to call anyone. I placed my order online, picked my delivery date, laid out my tarp and the dirt was delivered. My delivery had to be pushed back, but I was ke...
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How Much Material Do I Need?
Two to three inches is the standard depth for decorative rock in Arvada, which is enough coverage to suppress weeds without burying plant crowns. One ton covers roughly 100 square feet at two inches deep.
Use our free gravel calculator
What is a ton?
A ton is 2,000 pounds of material. As a general guideline, one ton of rock covers roughly 100 square feet at 2 inches deep, depending on rock size and density.
What is a Yard?
A yard is approximately 27 cubic feet. As a general guideline, one yard of material can cover an area of about 100-160 square feet at a 2-3 inch depth.
I used Mulch Mound to have 3 cubic yards of garden soil delivered. The process was easy and I love that I didn't have to call anyone. I placed my order online, picked my delivery date, laid out my tarp and the dirt was delivered. My delivery had to be pushed back, but I was ke...
How Much Material Do I Need?
Two to three inches is the standard depth for decorative rock in Arvada, which is enough coverage to suppress weeds without burying plant crowns. One ton covers roughly 100 square feet at two inches deep.
Use our free gravel calculator
What is a ton?
A ton is 2,000 pounds of material. As a general guideline, one ton of rock covers roughly 100 square feet at 2 inches deep, depending on rock size and density.
What is a Yard?
A yard is approximately 27 cubic feet. As a general guideline, one yard of material can cover an area of about 100-160 square feet at a 2-3 inch depth.
I used Mulch Mound to have 3 cubic yards of garden soil delivered. The process was easy and I love that I didn't have to call anyone. I placed my o...
Read full review
I used Mulch Mound to have 3 cubic yards of garden soil delivered. The process was easy and I love that I didn't have to call anyone. I placed my order online, picked my delivery date, laid out my tarp and the dirt was delivered. My delivery had to be pushed back, but I was kept informed via text, which was great. So why not 5 stars? The description of garden soil on the website is "A balanced mix of topsoil and organic amendments ready for raised beds, flower gardens, and new planting areas. Good drainage, solid nutrients, easy to work with." What I got was more like fill dirt. It had a lot of gravel, a lot of clay, and random trash mixed in. I didn't test the soil to see if it actually had "amendments" because I already have compost and alpaca manure ready to add, but if I'd known the quality of the dirt was going to be the same as the bagged dirt I bought last year, I probably would have gotten 2 yards of top soil and a yard of leaf compost for better quality, especially since the leaf compost is cheaper. Photo of my mountain of dirt and just some of the trash I found in it.
Really appreciate the care and follow thru that this company had with our order. A hiccup came up but they were quick to respond and address all co...
Read full review
Really appreciate the care and follow thru that this company had with our order. A hiccup came up but they were quick to respond and address all concerns, which made our garden day a success! Thank you for your prompt care.
Measure your area in square feet, then multiply by your depth in inches and divide by 324 to get cubic yards, or multiply cubic yards by 1.4 for tons. Break irregular shapes into rectangles and triangles rather than eyeballing the total. Order a little extra, because unlike mulch you cannot easily match a stone color or size on a small second order.
Complete Your Outdoor Stone Project
Add professional grade landscape fabric and steel edging to keep stone from migrating into the lawn, and pick up a few accent boulders to break up large gravel expanses.
Do not run rock mulch right up to the foundation on a south or west facing wall. That combination of reflected wall heat and radiating stone creates a microclimate that can run 20 degrees above ambient on a July afternoon in Arvada, stressing shrubs and drying the soil to depth. Leave a planted or organically mulched buffer of at least eighteen inches, or reserve those hot strips for true xeric plants that thrive in the heat.
Mulch Mound Pro Tip
Size your dry creek bed for a real Front Range storm, not an average rain. Arvada gets short intense summer cells that drop most of a month's moisture in half an hour, and clay loam cannot absorb it. Build the channel wider and deeper than looks necessary, use mixed cobble from two to eight inches so it does not wash out, and anchor the low end into a drywell or a spot that daylights safely away from the house.
Mulch Mound Pro Tip
Plan your wheelbarrow logistics before the truck arrives. A single ton of stone is about 30 wheelbarrow loads, and most Arvada backyard projects run six to ten tons. Stage the pile as close to the work as your driveway allows, lay plywood sheets over any turf you have to cross, and recruit help. Rock installs are almost always limited by moving material, not by spreading it.
The Unique Landscape of Arvada
Decorative rock has a real place in Arvada landscapes, where 16 inches of annual precipitation makes water wise design more than a trend. Stone holds up to the chinook winds that blow lighter materials out of beds along the west side of town, and it never needs replacing the way organic mulch does. It also solves drainage problems, which matter here because clay loam sheds water fast during the summer thunderstorms that dump an inch in twenty minutes. Dry creek beds, rock swales, and gravel borders channel that runoff away from foundations instead of letting it pool against the backfill. On the practical side, stone in walkways and side yards eliminates the mud that clay soil produces every spring melt. Just use it thoughtfully, since rock absorbs and radiates heat at 5,348 feet and can cook plants placed too close in a south facing bed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click a question to see the answer
Answer
Is rock mulch a good idea around plants in Arvada?
It depends on the plant and the exposure. Rock radiates a lot of heat at our elevation, and a south or west facing bed with rock can run 15 to 20 degrees hotter at the soil surface. That suits xeric natives like blue grama, yucca, rabbitbrush, and penstemon just fine. For hydrangeas, hostas, or anything needing consistent moisture, stick with organic mulch instead.
Answer
How thick should I spread decorative rock?
Two to three inches for one to one and a half inch river rock or granite, and about two inches for smaller three eighths inch material. Going deeper wastes money and makes weeding harder without improving coverage. In high wind areas of Arvada, larger stone at three inches stays put better than a thin layer of small gravel.
Answer
Does stone stop weeds in Arvada beds?
It slows them considerably but does not eliminate them. Our windblown dust and organic debris settle between the stones over three or four years and create a thin growing layer on top. Bindweed and cheatgrass are the usual culprits around Arvada. Blowing debris out each fall and spot treating in early spring keeps a rock bed clean for a decade or more.
Answer
How many tons of stone do I need for my project?
Most decorative rock weighs about 1.4 tons per cubic yard, and one ton covers roughly 100 square feet at two inches deep or 70 square feet at three inches. So a 400 square foot Arvada side yard at three inches needs about six tons. Larger cobble and boulders cover less per ton because of the air space between pieces.
Answer
Will a dry creek bed actually help with drainage on my lot?
Yes, when it is built to follow the natural grade. Arvada clay loam absorbs water slowly, so summer downpours produce fast surface runoff. A properly graded dry creek bed with fabric underneath and mixed cobble sizes carries that water away from your foundation and keeps it from carving channels through the lawn. Aim for a fall of at least one to two percent along the run.
Answer
Should I use landscape fabric under rock?
Under stone, yes, unlike under mulch. Fabric keeps rock from sinking into Arvada clay loam, which happens quickly once the soil goes through a few freeze thaw cycles and softens each spring. Use a woven professional grade fabric rather than the thin rolls, pin it every couple of feet, and overlap seams by six inches so wind does not lift an edge.
Answer
What size gravel works best for a walkway or side yard path?
Three eighths inch to three quarter inch crushed material compacts and stays underfoot much better than smooth round river rock, which shifts and rolls. Crushed granite or a road base with fines locks together into a firm surface. In Arvada, a crushed base also drains fast enough that a shaded north side path stays usable through the snow and ice cycles of a Front Range winter.
Answer
What is road base used for?
Road base is the compacted layer of crushed rock and fines that goes under driveways, parking pads, and pavers, built to lock tight and shed water. For drainage work around Arvada, like dry creek beds handling clay loam runoff from summer downpours, our Crushed Stone #57 is the better fit.
Answer
Is there a stone yard near Arvada?
Clay loam in Arvada sheds water fast during summer thunderstorms, so a drainage friendly base like crushed stone or granite chip rock holds up better than mulch. You don't need to track down a stone yard or drive out to a gravel pit, because Mulch Mound delivers the stone by the cubic yard and drops it right where you want it.
