Landscaping materials recommendation

Factual Questions
1

Hoping someone can help me help my dad.
He lives in Mass. (I live in MO-sadly) and needs help finding a good place to buy “unique” flagstones. By unique he apparently means colorful or at least not just one color. He wants to lay these in his lawn as a walkway of sorts. Doesn’t need a huge truck load by any means.

He has limited means of looking into such things and I’ve tried several search engines but came up with very little myself. And when I have found something, it’s usually for big landscaping companies, not for individuals.

If anybody could recommend someplace in the New England area that my dad might be able to purchase such things, we would both be eternally grateful.

2

I’m sure The Yellow Pages is full of landscaping companies that would be happy to help.

3

Give them a call anyway. Around here, there is no distinction; the big guys get their rock from the same places as the rest of us.

FWIW, the local stuff runs about 70sq ft/ton.

4

Thanks guys, but I was hoping for a specific recommendation if possible. I’m sure everybody my dad would call would think/claim to be the best.
Sorry if this isn’t the most intriguing post. Just tryin’ to get some friendly advice so I can save my (elderly) dad a few headaches based on potentially misleading ads.

5

How misleading could a rock ad be? Even if they triple charged your father, it would still be cheap. Example: I don’t live anywhere near a volcano, but I was able to buy bags of lava rock for something like $3 a piece at Home Depot last winter, and that’s got to be twice what I would have paid if I went through a landscaper (for the rock anyway). Tell your father he is safe buying rock from anyone with an ad in The Yellow Pages that has been in business for at least a year.

6

Have him look in the phone book, under “Stone, natural”. (That’s the heading in the Bell Atlantic Yellow pages, but may be different in books from a different provider). Every good-sized town around here (Maine) has a business dedicated to selling bricks and building stones. They are often found near the railroad tracks.

7

I don’t know where in Mass. your dad lives, but I’ve found a few places through 555-1212. You can enter your dad’s town and chose “Stone Natural” from the list. When I entered Methuen, I got this return:

Woburn Concrete & Masonry Supl 781-933-4700
237 Salem St
Woburn, MA

Sasso Stone 978-535-0377
7 Wildwood Dr
Peabody, MA

Rocky’s Stone Yard 978-535-5173
288 Newbury St
Peabody, MA

U S Stone Tile Marble/granite 781-233-9234
160 Walnut St
Saugus, MA

5 Seasons Home & Garden 978-745-9639
250 Highland Ave
Salem, MA

8

Quikret [sp] you know the people who make bags of concrete?
They also make pathway stone plastic molds. Cost $18 per mold. You pour in one bag of cement in each mold. Each mold is about 12 stones that fit perfectly into a walkway. Each stone is seperate & its really easy. Later you can paint them too. Lots of fun.