How to Get Free Rocks for Your Garden

Visit Construction Sites

Find a construction site where there's excavation work going on, and they'll probably be more than happy to give you the rocks they've unearthed. To you, they're the start of a rock garden; to them, they're just a nuisance that has to be hauled off at the end of the job.

Help a Farmer

A rocky field isn't desirable if you're a farmer. So, find a farmer, and offer to help remove rocks from his fields. If you're lucky, he may already have a pile of rocks at the edge of the field just waiting to be hauled away.

Talk to Road Construction Crews

Know of a big road construction project that involves lots of blasting? Put in a call to the job foreman, and you may have your source for free rocks. Just don't bother them at the job site, where your presence could be both a distraction and a safety hazard.

Go Rockhounding

Rockhounding is the hobby of searching for and collecting rocks, and while it's not allowed in National Parks, it is allowed in most National Forests and on most properties managed by the Bureau of Land Management. You can collect up to 250 pounds of rock a day in Utah without a permit. Now, that's a lot of free rock

Curb Shop for It

When homeowners' dive into their yard work and garden design in the spring, lots of good stuff gets hauled to the curb – including rocks. Take a Sunday drive, and you may just find some beautiful rocks to add to your garden.

Tip: Broken up concrete is a good stand in for rock if you're working on edging your garden. 

Shop Craigslist and Freecycle

Craigslist and Freecycle can be a good source for free rocks, but you'll have to check both sites regularly and be quick on the draw when an offer comes up.