Have you ever bought 10 bags of mulch from your local home improvement store, brought them home, dumped them out, and felt like you need about 100 more bags to cover the area you have? That's because each of those bags only covers 1/2 cubic foot when what you really needed was half a cubic yard or more of material.
If you own a house, live in the Northern suburbs, and do any kind of landscaping, you should know about Frador. It used to be GK Landscaping services. I think they were bought out by Frattalone's who have an excavating business right next door.
They sell landscaping supplies like landscaping rock, mulch, and black dirt all by the yard (that's short for cubic yard for you virgin landscapers). Since you're basically buying in bulk, they'll be a lot cheaper than buying the bags from your local chain home improvement store, but you won't be able to return the extra.
There are discounts if you buy several yards at once so if you know you need a lot, pay for it all at once. You don't have to haul it all away in one trip. They'll let you come back to pick up loads if you bring your receipt back each time. It's saved us a lot of money over the years buying mulch and black dirt this way. Just don't go there with plastic bins or garbage pails. If you're going to do that, you might was well go to the chain stores. Bring a big truck, or a trailer.
Nobody there is overly friendly, and the folks in the yard do little more than nod at you with all the big equipment noise, but you're not there to make new friends.
Be prepared to work up a sweat when you're unloading your haul because it's work to get it where it needs to go. But you're doing it to improve the look of your house and it will look great when it's done. That's why the call it "sweat equity," right? read more
