Gravel, Stone, Soil and Mulch Delivery in Evansville, IN

A silt loam with a hidden hardpan

The USDA soil survey maps the center point of ZIP 47708 as Sciotoville silt loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes, and the Sciotoville series fills the whole map unit. It is rated moderately well drained. Its shrink-swell rating is low, at 1.5 percent. The detail that matters most sits lower down: a fragipan at about 27 inches. A fragipan is a dense, brittle layer that roots and water struggle to pass through, so water soaking down from above can stall on top of it and saturate the soil above for a while after rain.^[1]

That is why the soil carries a split hydrologic rating, C/D: it behaves like group D while the water table is high and like group C where it has been drained. In practice, a yard on this kind of ground can feel fine in summer and soggy in a wet spring. Drainage stone and a raised base fix most of the trouble.^[1]

Fragipans also limit how deep roots go. A shrub set in a small, deep hole can end up sitting in a bathtub, with dense soil on every side and water trapped around its roots. Wide, shallow planting holes, or low mounds built with Topsoil and Compost, give roots room to spread sideways above the dense layer.^[1]

Old rock and river-town ground

The state geologic map places the center point on the Carbondale Group, a Pennsylvanian sequence of shale, sandstone, limestone, claystone and coal. These layered rocks underlie much of southwestern Indiana. Shale and claystone break down into fine, slow-draining material, which fits with the dense layer in the soil above. Homeowners rarely dig deep enough to reach the rock itself.^[2]

A separate elevation reading places the ground at the center point about 390 feet above sea level. The slope there is gentle, between 0 and 2 percent, so surface water moves slowly unless you shape the ground to send it somewhere.^[1],[3]

Shale and claystone can turn up as flat, crumbly chips in excavated soil. They soften when wet, so they make a poor base even when they look like rock. Pull them out of the floor of a drive or patio and replace them with clean crushed stone that will not break down under traffic.^[2]

Weather at the Evansville Museum station

The closest NOAA normals station is Evansville Museum, about 1 mile from the center point. It averages 47.8 inches of precipitation a year, and it records about 68 days when the low falls to 32 F or colder. On soil with a dense layer near the surface, repeated soaking and freezing can lift and soften a poorly drained base. Clean stone and a solid crown keep water from sitting in the layers under a drive or path.^[1],[4]

The station's median last spring freeze is March 29. Its median first fall freeze is November 10. Late March into early April is a reasonable time to start beds, while the wettest spring weeks are better spent watching where water collects before digging.^[4]

A base that drains well and sits on compacted ground handles that many freezes without much fuss. Trouble starts when water is trapped, as it can be over a dense subsoil layer, so drainage matters more here than extra depth of stone. Lay the base with a crown, keep its edges open to a swale, and frost has little water to work with.^[1],[4]

Stone for drains and soggy corners

A French drain is the most common fix on ground like this. Dig a trench with a steady fall toward a lower outlet, line it with fabric, lay a perforated pipe, and fill around it with Drain Rock or #57 Crushed Stone. Fold the fabric over the top and finish with River Rock or Topsoil and sod. The trench gives water perched above the fragipan a path out before it can saturate the yard.^[1]

Around downspouts, a small dry well of #4 Crushed Stone stores roof water from a storm while it seeps out slowly. Keep these features shallow enough to sit above the dense layer, or they will fill and hold water instead of draining it. On a gentle slope, a shallow swale lined with #67 Stone can carry water across the lot without visible pipe.^[1],[4]

Before digging, mark where the water comes from and where it can leave. A drain that ends in a low spot of your own yard only moves the puddle. Aim the outlet toward a ditch, a swale or a gentle slope where water can spread out over grass.^[4]

Old housing in ZIP 47708

The Census Bureau counts about 601 housing units in ZIP 47708. Detached single-family houses make up only 7 percent of them, and owners occupy about 10 percent of occupied homes. The median year built falls in the Census bucket of 1939 or earlier, one of the oldest housing profiles anywhere in the city.^[5]

Evansville overall holds about 59,180 housing units, and detached houses are 64 percent of the city's homes. The citywide median year built is 1961. Older buildings near the center of town bring their own needs: alley parking pads, courtyards that have settled, and narrow strips along brick walls where water has been getting in for decades.^[5]

Buildings that old often sit close to the lot line, with brick or stone foundations and little room for machines. Bulk material is easiest to handle when it lands near the work, so note any alley access or a clear spot by the curb when you order. A narrow side passage can still take a French drain or a gravel strip, built by hand with a shovel and a tamper.^[5]

Driveways, pads and garden beds

For a parking pad or driveway, strip the topsoil, shape a crown, compact the silt, and lay a woven fabric. Build compacted Road Base or Crushed Concrete in lifts, then finish with Driveway Gravel or #57 Crushed Stone. INDOT names Compacted Aggregate, No. 53, under Section 301 Aggregate Base in its Standard Specifications 2026 for the stone layer below its pavements, the same idea of a graded, dense base.^[1],[6]

For gardens, build up. Raised beds filled with Garden Soil and Compost sit above the wettest part of the profile, so roots stay out of the saturated zone over the fragipan. Top them with Black Shredded Mulch to hold moisture through dry summer stretches and to keep rain from crusting the surface.^[1]

Asphalt Millings are a popular alternative to loose gravel for alley pads. Spread and rolled, they bind into a firm, dark surface that sheds water and stays in place where cars turn sharply.^[4]

Where a pad meets a paved alley, set the gravel slightly lower than the pavement edge so alley water does not run across the pad, and finish the joint with a strip of compacted Road Base.^[1]