Soil, Gravel & Mulch Delivery near you

Soil names vary from one supplier to the next, so ask what's in each product rather than trusting the label, and whether it has been screened to remove stones, roots and clumps.

Gravel is sold by purpose as much as by stone, and the wrong choice shows quickly: round stone that rolls underfoot on a path, or washed stone that never packs down on a driveway. When gravel is the base under a driveway, patio or shed, let the installer specify the product, since the right base depends on the soil and the load.

Bulk material is sold by volume, in cubic yards or cubic metres, and many suppliers set a minimum order. To estimate, measure the length and width of each area, decide how deep the layer should be and multiply. Our mulch and topsoil calculator does the arithmetic in either unit, and the same area-times-depth formula works for a layer of gravel.

Measure an irregular bed as several rectangles and add them up, and use the depth the job actually needs rather than a guess. Soil and gravel settle and compact once they're spread and tamped, so a little extra usually beats a second delivery. For a base under pavers or a driveway, let the installer work out the quantity.

A loaded dump truck is far heavier than the cars your driveway usually carries, and it tips its whole load in one spot. Choose that spot before delivery day, and be there or leave clear instructions when the truck arrives.

If the only place for the pile is the road, the boulevard or a lane, check with the city first. Toronto, for example, requires a Street Occupation Permit to temporarily occupy the roadway, boulevard, sidewalk or a public lane with equipment or materials during demolition, renovation or construction, and lists the storage of materials among the uses it covers. Other municipalities set their own rules, and a pile on the road can block gutters and is hard to see at night.

Bringing in a large amount of soil can also fall under a municipal site alteration or fill by-law, especially when the new material raises the grade or changes where water drains. Ask your municipality before ordering fill for a large regrading job; our grading page explains approved grading plans.

Soil is only as clean as the site it came from. Supply yards generally screen and blend their own products, but fill offered free, or suspiciously cheap, may come straight from a construction dig with debris, fuel or other contamination in it. In Ontario, excess soil is regulated under O. Reg. 406/19, On-Site and Excess Soil Management: soil dug up and moved off a project must meet quality standards and go to an appropriate reuse site with the site owner's written consent, or to a licensed disposal facility. Taking truckloads of excavated soil from someone else's project can make your yard the place that soil ends up, so find out what you're receiving before you agree.

Where new material goes matters as much as how much of it there is. Mulch holds moisture against whatever it touches, and soil heaped against the house can undo the slope that carries water away from the foundation, which the Government of Canada's property grading guidance describes. Spread beds so the finished surface stays below siding, wood trim and brick weep holes, and the ground still falls away from the walls.