As a homeowner in Phoenix, you know that decorative rock, Rip Rap, river rock, and boulders are a valuable part of your landscape. All of these materials add interest to your yard but require no water and are very simple to maintain. And even better is the fact that most homeowners can spend a weekend on a do-it-yourself project and have a year that looks clean and fresh for a fraction of the cost of a full landscape project. But selecting the rock that you need and figuring out how much you need can be very tricky.

Large Rock

The two types of larger rock that most homeowners in Phoenix use are river rock and rip rap. The river rock is a very smooth rounded stone while the rip rap is a very rough and angular granite. Both of these materials are broken down into two sizes. The larger size is 3” to 8” and the smaller is 1” to 3”. Keep in mind that this is the average size so some pieces could be larger or smaller. The calculation for the large 3” to 8” rock is one ton for every 60 square feet that you are covering. This one ton will provide a cover that is roughly at a 3” to 8” depth or one piece of stone. If you want to have better coverage and less difficulty covering up the soil with this larger rock, then estimate a ton to cover 50 square feet. Smaller stones in the 1” to 3” range will also cover at an average of one stone depth or 1” to 3” range when applying one ton of rock to cover 80 square feet. For a deeper coating estimate 70 square feet per ton.

Smaller Decorative Rock

The smaller rock definitely covers a larger area and is much easier to get good depth and application to eliminate dust from the soil. Screened granite, or decorative rock, that is 1” to ¾” will cover 100 square feet at a depth of 2” which is an industry standard. If you would like a thicker coverage, adjust accordingly to possibly 80 square feet per ton. Screened granite that is 5/8” to ½” will cover roughly 120 square feet at the recommended 2” depth. Deeper coverage of 3” would require using 1.5 tons per 120 square feet. And the smallest rock at ¼” to 3/8” will cover 140 square feet to a depth of 2”.

Knowing how to calculate the amount of rock that you need is about the most difficult part of any decorative rock project, other than the shoveling and raking. But nothing is worse than running short on decorative rock and having to pay another delivery fee for a single ton of rock. And almost as bad, is having a huge pile left in your driveway after you have covered your entire yard. Then the only way to clean up is to keep dragging more rock into your yard to increase the depth which is not an easy task.

Contact Cyclone Rock to learn more about the varieties of rock that they offer and how you can create a completely new look in your yard just by adding a few new features such as ground cover decorative rock, river rock, rip rap and boulders.