Frequently Asked Questions

The type of soil you use depends on several different factors. First remember that not all plants like the same soil. Flowers like roses and azaleas are acid loving plants, trees and shrubs don't need that much acidity. Potted plants need loose soil for water to drain through otherwise the root could rot, native plants to the Austin area live in heavier soil. Also when your yard is heavily shaded by trees and neighboring buildings put the plants in that area that don't mind less sun light than something that will.

When creating a patio or walkway look for flat pieces of rock sometimes referred to as flagstone. Some flagstone has uneven surfaces that could be easy to trip on and others have flakey layers that might be unappealing to some. It's really just a matter of preference; some people love the uneven pieces for more of a rustic look and the flatter colorful patio rock although more fragile is great for patios with tables and benches.

The reason most literature read suggests sand over granite is most regions don't have large deposits of granite like we do in Central Texas. Granite is going to pack better, look better and spreads out just as easy as sand with about the same cost.

Sometimes it's much more accurate to sell by weight than by the yard but it's easy to convert. There is approximately 1.2 tons per yard when measuring products like gravel. If you measured your area in tons, just multiply it by 1.2 and you will have the cubic yard value. If you want to convert tons to yard do the opposite and divide by 1.2.

Item descriptionProfessional Mix

Austin Soil Amendment

Compost

Rose Mix

All Mulch

All Washed River Gravel

Fill Sand

Masonry Sand

Crushed Decomposed Granite

Limestone

Blackstar

Granite Gravel

Granite Sand

Potting Soil

All other materials are available on a per order basis.

Know that not all lawns need the same thing and there is no special mix that is made that is perfect for all lawns. In new homes built they spend little time putting together your lawn. New lawns usually consist of rock and a thin layer of reddish dirt that has high clay content. Improving an area like this will take time if the grass has already been established. Once you plant grass on that thin layer of rock and clay you have no choice but to top dress with small layers at a time as not to smother out your grass.

Your lawn is a battlefield with lots of plants and grasses competing to survive. Weeds have developed clever ways to reproduce like dandelions and stickers that float in the air or stick to clothes and hair to travel. The best way to prevent weeds is to keep your grasses lush and fertile. If your lawn is full of good healthy grass it will choke out most weeds that try to invade.

We prefer the organic approach to most gardening problems over chemical fertilizers and weed and feed products. Of course the best ways to solve most problems aren't necessarily the easiest or the quickest. The problem with chemical alternatives is that they leave large deposits of sodium over time and that will sterilize your lawn. Ever heard of the famous salt flats? There is not much grass or plants growing there.

Grass needs air, water and food to grow like most living things. When applying a top dressing like Austin Soil Amendment or Whittlesey Armadillo Dirt place only about a quarter inch of material on top and water frequently. If you place too much on top of your lawn it will deprive the grass of the necessary air needed to survive. Also keep in mind Whittlesey Armadillo Dirt is very high in nitrogen and if too much is applied it will burn your grass.

In full sized, 1/2 ton truck, approximately 1 yard.

In a mid-sized truck, approximately 1/2 a yard.

Not all products weigh the same, and just because the material fits doesn't mean it's safe to haul. Please refer to the Calculator page for approximate weight of materials.

A cubic yard covers a 3ft x 3ft x 3ft area.

2,000 pounds.

If you lay out a yard of dirt or mulch on your yard you will get about 324 square feet at an inch depth. An easy way to convert cubic yards to square feet is to take your square footage; times the number of inches deep you want and then divide that number with 324 to get cubic yards. Keep in mind when laying down gravel over an inch in diameter you will not have enough to completely cover the area. For instance if you spread out three inches of gravel and want to completely cover what's below it you would have to be at least 5 or 6 inches because the gravel is so large.

Most patio rock covers around 75 square feet per ton. That leaves an adequate amount of space in between the stones for mortar or gravel. If you want to place the stones closer together to reduce the amount of material needed in between you will need more patio rock to do the same job and vice versa.

Check out our Contact page to see hours for all of our locations.

We have three main sales locations, one is in Round Rock, 3219 South IH 35, between Louis Henna and Grand Ave Parkway on the access road next to the new Rooms To Go. Our south location is on 629 Dalton Lane, Austin. Off Hwy 71 or 183 depending on where you are coming from. Our newest location is in Liberty Hill, 14775 TX-29 across the street from the storage facility.

The Whittlesey family made the decision to close on Sundays in the belief that it's important that all of our employees have an opportunity to spend time with family and friends, rest, and worship if they choose to do so. We believe that this choice is an integral part of staffing all of our locations with a spiritually and mentally healthy, happy, and helpful team of employees.

Our Dalton location is our production yard where we make most of our material like mixes, mulch and compost. A lot of our specialty items like exotic patio rock and gravels are only sold at our Round Rock location. However, we are adding different materials at all our locations all the time. The best solution is to make a quick phone call to double check on product availability.

You bet! If you know what you need or have already ordered a load of material and are sure what you want please call. We prefer you to come in first to order specialty rocks or products you're not familiar with before we deliver. We will not accept returns on natural products like rocks and gravel so it's important to see what you're buying beforehand.

Unfortunately fuel prices are extremely high and most of our material is shipped by a third party and we have to pay them the fee we charge in order for your supplies to get there quick and accurately. We make very little profit if any on deliveries so we can pass the savings to our customers.

If two products are delivered in one truck they will mix. Sometimes it is a necessary evil to have them in the same truck and we will do it if you want it that way. Understand that after getting loaded and the drive to your location from ours it will be hard to separate after they dump. We do not recommend it for most products like gravel and rock because it's very hard to separate it from mulch and dirt.

In order to keep good client to distributor relations we do not offer that service, but we do deliver the material. There are thousands of professional landscapers that come in here and purchase our many products a week that would be happy to help with any of your projects. Often they leave business cards for just that, check in our office for those contacts or ask our sales staff for that information.

No one is going to know what rocks or gravel that would best fit your needs than yourself. We encourage our customers to take a hands on approach and pick out their own material so that they are truly satisfied. However some of these pieces of patio rock weigh over 200lbs each and assistance is required.

Bulk materials are loaded with one of our many machines but we can only load trucks and trailers that have no cover over them. Please ask if there is anything that you feel you need help with.

Remember that most of our material is natural and we have very little control over how it's made. Natural rock and aggregates vary in size and color every time we get in a new load. We are not responsible for rock breaking during shipping or smaller than wanted pieces on pallets.

Prices vary by location and are based on volume of brush; please feel free to call for current prices at your location.

There is a mandatory pull charge of $10 for all loads except for dump truck/trailers or pickup truck loads. Please have your brush ready to pull upon arrival.

We value the safety of all our employees and customers and require hard hats and safety vests for anyone entering the dump area. We do have safety vests and hard hats for sale in the brush office if needed.

There is no tolerance for customers dumping trash. There will be a minimum $100 fine if trash is found.

Yes. We take Christmas Trees for $5 per tree.

Recycling wood is great, and is much more eco-friendly in comparison to taking it to the city dump. However it does come at a price. Lots of hours of labor, heavy equipment and the cost of fuel require us to charge to dump brush at our facility.