There's not a real ready supply of free rock around here so you have to buy it, and man it IS expensive!

Could you hire a few of your sons friends? Maybe if he sees them making a few bucks off hauling rocks he might join in, for FREE! After all, you provide room and board for him! Its the least he could do in return.

I looked around housing construction sites and found all my rock, all sizes, free. At first I drove around the neighborhoods under construction and then hit pay dirt by finding a parking lot they were tearing up to put in a new development. They pulled up the asphalt and underneath was nothing but hard rock that they were breaking up and piling around the big crater in the earth. I backed my truck up and piled in more than my truck could handle. The rock was perfect for what I wanted it for, beautiful rock, all shapes, sizes and neatly piled up for my taking, most of them easily hoisted into my truck by me, some of them much too large and I nearly gave myself a hernia lifting it to the truck.

Drive around to construction sites and ask them if they have any piles of rock they will be carying away. They may even be gentleman and help you load it if you can't talk your son into it.

I might also threaten cooking and laundry duty on him until he decides he'd rather move rocks. Worked for me and my kids (when all I really wanted to do is get them out of my way. A few chores talked them into finding something else to do.)

I am surprised you can't locate free rock in your own yard in the Ozarks. I have had to pay for rock and also had to resort to building rock walls to clear enough soil for a garden. I built over 1000 running feet of wall in 18 years just by picking up what popped up to the surface each spring. The smaller stones about the size of a cantaloupe or smaller were almost too small but the biggest, the size of a VW, simply had to be worked around. You might just have to be content by adding a couple of rocks at a time every week or so which may not appeal to your personality. Just keep saying "My garden is a work in progress". I have done the construction site collection too, although I didn't have the advantage of a truck. DH had fits saying I was going to destroy the car with too much weight. Some time I was able to get a contractor to deliver rocks they dug up and didn't want. Sometimes I even got neighbors to drop them off. Sandy

curb1 you are so lucky! Around here a ton of stone like that would be at least $400 delivered.

10 dollars a ton? man, that would be nice. i live in arkansas as well and i can say that i have brought in at least 4 ton or more of rock over the last two years just by driving around backroads here and getting them. i just drive along and if i see a decent one, i stop and grab it. it's a nice little excursion to drive around and see the countryside, well if you can stand the site of all the gas wells that are popping up. i don't like them personally. good luck hunting.

Sandy, Yes, I do have lots of rocks, but most are too small. Yet, everyonce in a while our dirt road gets graded and I do find some decent sized rocks. I will be taking your advice and repeating,"my pond is a work in progress". We drove around a lot last year, but getting DH to stop during a relaxing drive,(for rocks or seeds), didn't work, and with the price of gas, I think the drives will become less.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I think I'll try and flurt with a construction crew. Age diffirence may be a problem, LOL. My son already has chorse, and a job. But I'll be pondering a plan.Guilt-trips don't work on him ether.
Diann
diann

I will also caution you to avoid lifting a rock that is too heavy for you. Shame the males in the family and avoid the broken back I wound up with putting a big planter in the car. Sandy

A little flirting never hurts. And, you can always play the sweet elder card if the age difference is a little much. Either way, a polite smile and maybe a case of water for some help from the nice construction gentleman. Then you can tell your husband and son how great these guys were for helping you out and your rocks only cost a little friendliness and the price of a case of water.

Here a pallet of rocks cost 140. I was looking at them a couple weeks ago before I went hunting. I would have needed at least 2 to complete my pond.

Here in coal-mining PA, where vast areas of rock are excavated everywhere, a pallet (3000#) costs $300-350, around $60 delivered. And the basic rock is flat, yellowish sandstone which makes it hard to give a vertical dimension to things.

curb1, your rocks are really nice--I have a thing for rounded cobbles and wish I could have even a dozen of yours for variety. I just can't find them for sale here.

It is true that rocks are everywhere for the picking but I can't do that anymore. Me flirting with construction guys sounds counter-productive!

nashonii--lots of good advice here but gathering rocks is hard work without help. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
Mike

mgeca,
We can thank the Missoula Floods from about 12,000 years ago for a tremendous variety of rocks. We appreciate what we have available.

http://www.glaciallakemissoula.org/

I will say that most people around here do not realize that these rocks can be cheaply available. Most people do pay the high prices mentioned because they don't know how to go to the source.

I noticed a pile of rock at the neighbor farmer's field. Maybe you could ask nearby farmers? They pull them out of their fields, so they won't hurt their tractors.

I agree.....FORCE your son and a couple of his friends to help. I hate to say this, but would paying them help??

Thank you everyone for helping me with ideas!
Catherinet, unfortunatley with all my son and his collage friends have going on, even paying wouldn't help but a little.
BUT, Sat. as I was cuting a flagstone mold out of a styrophone lid, my DH drive up and had me look in the back of his truck. To my suprise it had 9 or 10 flat rocks in it! The mighty rains we had last week loosened some rocks that fell by the road. I guess it took me 'doing it myself' in the only way I could, to get him to realize I wasn't just kinda wanting some rocks but REALLY NEEDED THEM! Sunday we both went back to the spot by the road and loaded up about 20 more. Now I can get started and find a few more later on.
You guys are THE BEST! Thank you for your encouragement, and ideas! I will be asking the local farmers, construction sites, and neighbors, for rocks. I hadn't thought of them. Thank you again for being here for me,
Diann

Hi all! Just a little warning about collecting rocks on your own from piles...Don't make the mistake I made.
I noticed a nice pile of stone in a field, asked if the owner if he would be willing to part with some. He was a nice older fellow, said the stones had been there for a few years and he wasn't going to be using them or working the land anylonger, so take what ever I wanted. Well I took a walk out to the pile and lifted one, yep one rock. Stirred up a nest of yellow jacket wasps! Luckily I moved quick enough and only got whacked by one. So if you're not sure how long the pile has been there, be aware of what is buzzing around the pile. I must have been by the back end of the nest entrance or I probably would have seen or heard the wasps coming and going. Lucky me. I told the owner about the wasps so he wouldn't go near them. He told me to come back in the winter if I wanted the stone and thanked me for the warning.
Well, I did go back and collected a few really nice stone for a wall that was going in. the nest was huge! the rock were on top of an old tree trunk which the yellow jackets were nesting in.

We have a tractor and used it to move the huge rocks but we had a few areas where the tractor would not reach without damaging things.
My husband and I used a hand truck to move some fairly large rocks. It worked really well.

When I lived in Arkansas, my husand and I used to go boating; Lake deGrey had so much rock around the edges, we'd have the boat running way low in the water on the way back, because we'd picked up so much rock! We were doing a retaining wall around our koi pond, so we needed a lot of rock, and it all came from the lake.

Here is a link that might be useful: I Love Koi

Thank you Wetfoot! We haven't lived here long. I think we will have to do a little site seeing and find that lake!
D.

Whoa, Lake DeGrey is a state park. If it is like most of the state parks I have been to, you can get into serious trouble collecting or taking anything that is in the park. The idea is that if one person is allowed to do it then soon that thing, be it plant, animal, insect or rock will be gone and if part of a project, will need to be replaced. Fines can be pretty steep. Check the rules first. The park rangers, who are usually police officers in addition to their park duties may even tell you where you can collect your rocks legally. Sandy