Rocks & Stone

[DigdirtJen]

Hi everyone!
I currently have a small pond that i want to enlarge. I was checking into rock/stone prices and OMG are rocks expensive! Does anyone have any tips or tricks on procuring rocks or stone for edging my pond? I've looked at home depot and lowes...are there better avenues for buying rocks? Do constructions companies ever give them away when doing site work?

 

[Mmathis]

It depends on where you live. Some on here say that rocks are plentiful in some parts of the country — look at construction sites, farmlands, etc. Sometimes rocks are excavated during digging. Where I am, in Louisiana, there are no rocks. We have to buy ours, but we do have a couple of “rock stores” in our city. Look for landscaping companies. Look on Craig’slist.

 

[cas]

Check facebook marketplace. In my area people are getting rid of rocks, some at cheap prices, and some were actually free!

 

[jgrandmont]

I've picked up rocks along the sides of roads, at construction sites, and even at the local town dump. They have an area there where you can drop off (or take) hard materials like bricks, cement, and rocks.

 

[Jhn]

Some construction companies will let you take rocks, but ask first. Speaking as a contractor it is dangerous just to come on to an active construction site, depending on the site it can require proper PPE to be there. Also, there is nothing more annoying than the public coming on the site even after work hours digging through a dumpster or pile of rock/junk making a mess in the process and creating more work for the contractor.

 

[poconojoe]

What type and size rocks are you looking for?

It's always way more expensive to buy the bags of stuff from big box home stores.

Try looking at garden centers. The places where you buy plants, soil, mulch, etc. They will usually deliver too, if you don't own a truck. The place by me charges $30 for delivery. I have a pickup truck, so I'm just limited by the weight it can handle.

Look for a mason supply center or quarry that sells bulk. Usually where contractors will get their stuff. They usually have all types of stones, pavers, slate, sand etc. They should deliver too.

 

[Lisak1]

When you say "expensive" what is your reference point? If you find a good rock yard, you'll see prices range drastically depending on the type of rock. Where we live, granite is plentiful - it's been a while, but I think we paid under $120 a ton for 12-18 inch boulders. There are other types of rock that are well over $300 a ton.

If you live in an area where rock is plentiful, you could indeed search for them "in the wild" - we collected rocks for a good many years after we moved into our new subdivision. All the construction unearthed lots of beautiful boulders. My kids used to find pretty ones and haul them home for me - sometimes they spent days getting one up and out of the ground and into their wagon... great summer time activity! But to get enough for any kind of pond project would take a lot of searching, hauling, etc. And you'd have only the size rocks you could haul home.

Good luck!

 

[DigdirtJen]

Thanks for the replies! I hadn't thought about a quarry...and there is one close to me! I think i'll give them a call. Thanks again!

 

[AlyssaFish]

Definitely look for people giving away rocks! That's what I do. I got lucky and it turned out one of my coworkers was remodeling their entire house and yard, including a rock garden they needed to get rid of. It really helped me out!

Keep in mind for asthetic purposes it's recommended you get rocks of all the same type, but varrying sizes, that are rounded/weathered. I didn't follow this advice personally because it's harder to follow when getting rocks for free--and frankly, I like the variation. It may not appear as natural, but it is pretty.

 

[Mmathis]

@DigdirtJen If you go to some place like a quarry, look for the smoothest rocks possible, and try to avoid any with sharp edges or very rough surfaces. These can be harmful for your fish as well as harmful for your liner!

 

[Phaewryn]

Most of my stones came from the hillside and nature area near where I live: I carried them in by hand from my hillside or backpacked them in from the park. Some were ones I picked up off the side of the road with my partner's Subaru Outback and trailer. It's hard work to carry all your stones in, and questionably legal when you pick them up off the side of the road or from parks, so nerve-wracking. I wish I could just afford to buy stone, but I can't, so it's my only option. Some (gravel and big white river rocks) I bought from Home Depot which is, as you noted, exorbitant in cost. I keep trickling them, in over a long time. It's been 3 years now and I'm still going out "rock hunting" to finish the job. I'm lucky to live in Vermont, where rock is everywhere (well, maybe it's not luck, I chose to live here, moved here 17 years ago).

 

[Catch&Release]

I guess living in Massachusetts obtaining big stone and smaller potato stone is a breeze. The larger stuff comes from sunken stone walls and the smaller stuff was piled up 200 years ago by the farmers working the land.
The tough part is moving the wall stone. Always makes me wonder how they moved and stacked 500 pound boulders. I believe it was oxen and brute strength as well as knowing all about levers. Give me a long stick and a place to put it and you can move the earth. That's a quote from somebody, i just forget who.

 

[Mmathis]

Archimedes.