Mulch, soil & stone
Mulch, soil & stone for South Florida yards
Melaleuca vs. eucalyptus, compost for our sand, decorative rock and coverage math.
Mulch, soil & stone
Everything that goes on top of, or into, the ground. In Palm Beach County this aisle does more work than anywhere else in the country: our soil is sand over limestone with almost no organic matter, and mulch is what keeps beds from cooking in the sun and washing out in the rainy season. Start with what each product actually is, then check Delray Beach stock.
Photos coming soon. We carry our own house brands of mulch and soil alongside the national ones. We're adding store photos of what's actually stacked outside so you can see the bags before you drive over — call us in the meantime and we'll tell you what's on the pallet today.
Mulch types
Mulch holds moisture in sand, keeps bed temperatures down and smothers weeds. Which one you pick changes how it behaves in a downpour and what it does to your soil as it breaks down.
Melaleuca mulch
Shredded from an invasive Florida tree, so using it helps clear it out of the Everglades. Light tan aging to silver-gray.
Best for: Beds around the house, foundation plantings and anywhere termites are a worry.
Good to know: Naturally termite- and insect-resistant, holds together in heavy rain and doesn't float away like pine bark. Our most-recommended mulch for South Florida.
Eucalyptus mulch
Shredded from fast-growing farmed eucalyptus. Fine texture, reddish-brown, and it knits into a mat.
Best for: Large open beds and slopes where you want the mulch to stay put.
Good to know: Sustainable and long-lasting, with a clean look. Color fades in about a season under our sun.
Cypress mulch
Traditional Florida mulch, blond to gray, holds color a long time.
Best for: Formal beds where appearance matters most.
Good to know: Mats down so tightly it can shed water instead of letting it through — rake it every few months. Ask us about sourcing before you choose it over melaleuca.
Pine bark & pine straw
Chunky bark nuggets or loose long-needle straw. Both are acidic as they break down.
Best for: Acid-loving plants — gardenias, ixora, azaleas, blueberries — and natural-looking beds under trees.
Good to know: The one real benefit of an acidic mulch in our alkaline soil. Nuggets float in a downpour, so keep them away from swales and low spots.
Colored & rubber mulch
Dyed hardwood in red, brown or black, or shredded recycled rubber that never breaks down.
Best for: Playsets, dog runs and beds where you want one color to hold for years.
Good to know: Rubber adds nothing to the soil and gets hot in full sun — it's a surface product, not a soil builder.
Rock & shell as mulch
Gravel, river rock, lava rock or shell used instead of organic mulch.
Best for: Drip lines, dry areas and low-maintenance beds you don't want to re-mulch.
Good to know: Permanent, but it reflects heat and raises soil pH further — a poor match for plants already fighting our alkaline sand.
Soils, compost & amendments
Sand drains too fast to hold water or nutrients. Almost every planting problem here improves when you add organic matter and deal with the high pH.
Potting mix
Soilless blend of peat, bark and perlite with a starter fertilizer. Light and fast-draining.
Best for: Containers, hanging baskets and porch planters — never in-ground beds.
Good to know: In a pot on a hot patio it can dry out daily. Moisture-control versions buy you an extra day between waterings.
Garden soil / raised bed mix
Heavier blend of topsoil, compost and organic matter meant to go in the ground or in a raised bed.
Best for: Vegetable beds, herb boxes and amending planting holes for shrubs.
Good to know: Too dense for containers — it packs down and drowns roots in a pot.
Compost & composted manure
Fully broken-down organic matter. The single best amendment for our sand.
Best for: Mixing into any bed before planting, and top-dressing tired beds twice a year.
Good to know: Sand holds almost no nutrients or water. Compost gives it something to hold onto — this is the fix for 'nothing grows here.'
Peat moss & coco coir
Water-holding organic fiber. Peat is mildly acidic; coir is a renewable coconut byproduct.
Best for: Boosting water retention in containers and seed-starting mixes.
Good to know: Peat's acidity slightly counters our high pH. Wet either one before mixing — dry, they repel water.
Topsoil & fill sand
Bulk screened soil or clean sand for grading, leveling and filling.
Best for: Filling low spots in the lawn, leveling before sod and backfilling around pavers.
Good to know: Topsoil is a filler, not a growing medium. Anything you plant into still needs compost mixed in.
Soil amendments & pH helpers
Elemental sulfur, soil acidifier, gypsum, worm castings, bone and blood meal.
Best for: Correcting yellow leaves, hardpan and nutrient lockout from alkaline soil.
Good to know: Our pH runs 7.5–8.2, which locks up iron. Acidifier plus chelated iron greens up a plant faster than more nitrogen will.
Decorative stone, edging & base
Permanent ground cover for drip lines, paths and drainage — plus the edging and fabric that keep everything where you put it.
River rock & pea gravel
Smooth, rounded stone in 3/8-inch pea size up to fist-sized river rock.
Best for: Drip strips along the house, dry creek beds and drainage areas.
Good to know: Put landscape fabric underneath or it disappears into our sand within a year.
Lava rock
Lightweight porous red or black volcanic rock.
Best for: Beds where weight matters, plus grill and fire-pit use.
Good to know: Light enough that it moves in heavy rain and blows around with a leaf blower on high.
Marble chips & white stone
Bright white crushed marble or limestone.
Best for: Coastal and modern landscapes, and borders that stay clean-looking.
Good to know: Raises pH as it weathers, so keep it away from acid-lovers like gardenias and ixora.
Shell & crushed coquina
Crushed shell that packs down into a firm, coastal-looking surface.
Best for: Paths, side yards and coastal beds.
Good to know: A local classic that compacts into a walkable surface — also strongly alkaline.
Pavers, edging & landscape fabric
Bed edging, plastic and steel borders, stakes, and woven weed barrier.
Best for: Keeping mulch and stone where you put it and out of the grass.
Good to know: Fabric under stone: yes. Fabric under organic mulch: usually not — it blocks the mulch from feeding the soil.
Sand, paver base & concrete mix
Paver sand, polymeric joint sand, crushed base rock and bagged concrete.
Best for: Setting pavers and stepping stones, and footings for posts and mailboxes.
Good to know: Polymeric sand locks paver joints against weeds and our afternoon downpours.
How much do I need?
The counter math, so you buy once instead of twice. Measure the bed length and width, decide on depth, then check the numbers below.
How many bags in a cubic yard?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet — about 13.5 two-cubic-foot bags of mulch, or 9 three-cubic-foot bags.
How far does one bag of mulch go?
A 2 cu. ft. bag covers roughly 12 sq. ft. at 2 inches deep, or 8 sq. ft. at 3 inches deep.
How deep should mulch be?
2–3 inches, tapering to nothing at trunks and stems. Deeper traps water in the wet season and invites rot, roaches and fungus.
How much soil for a raised bed?
Length × width × depth in feet ÷ 27 = cubic yards. A 4×8 bed at 12 inches deep needs about 32 cu. ft. — roughly 16 two-cubic-foot bags.
How much does stone cover?
Rock is sold by weight, not volume. Figure about 100 sq. ft. per ton at 2 inches deep for river rock or gravel.
When should I re-mulch?
Once or twice a year here — our heat and rain break organic mulch down fast. Rake and fluff what's there first, then top off to depth.
Never pile mulch against a trunk or the base of a shrub — "mulch volcanoes" rot bark and are the fastest way to lose a young tree here. Pull it back a few inches and keep the flare of the trunk visible.
Shop mulch, soil & stone
Check price and Delray Beach stock on AceHardware.com, then pick up in store.