Introduction
Organization in a landscape supply yard/nursery whilst stocking large quantities of materials is essential. Just piling mulch or gravel is a great way to lose or blend materials, impacting the quality of your materials and the bottom line. The solution many yards opt for, which you’ve probably seen before, is building bins using mafia blocks. Mafia blocks resemble large concrete Legos that can be stacked together to create cubicles to efficiently concentrate, organize, and utilize stocked materials like mulch, gravel, dirt, and more. Read on as we dive into how to plan, build, and maintain bins for your own operation.
Planning Your Bin Construction
Optimally placing your bins is essential for the daily operations of your yard. Take the time to carefully plan your bin placements while considering things like functionality, space maximization, potential obstacles, and aesthetics.
Assessing Your Needs
Start with a thorough assessment of your needs. How many bins do you need and of what size? What materials are going where? Perhaps have more popular items in easier to reach spots. Design bins to hold peak material volumes to efficiently use your space.
“To properly size the bins, you really need two main conditions: you have to have the supply and demand really mapped out of what that is for each product. That is the golden rule—supply and demand.”
Choosing the Right Location
Bin location is huge; finding the right place makes your bins easy to access, but free from blocking machine traffic through the yard. At the same time, you want your bin locations to maximize the space inside your yard. Take your time in the planning phase of bin placement to ensure your layout lends itself towards success.
“Measure the area that you have to dedicate to bulk inventory. Make sure that you leave enough room for the trucks to maneuver and that they can easily get offloaded.”

Materials Needed
With a plan in place, you’ll need the proper materials to build bins along with the proper machinery to get your lot going.
Selecting Durable Materials
While there are a few different materials that can be employed in bin construction, many yards opt for the large, stackable concrete blocks called mafia blocks for optimal material storage and long term durability. Mafia blocks are fantastic for building bins of many sizes while properly handling your material stock and withstand the wear of weather and machinery working nearby.
Tools & Machinery Required
Moving mafia blocks isn’t something you should plan to do often as it’s quite difficult. This means you should properly plan the correct locations for your mafia blocks before bringing in the machinery you need to move them. Forklifts or larger excavators make for solid options to move mafia blocks, both depending on the size of the blocks and the carrying capacity of your machinery. Always aire on the side of caution when moving heavy loads like mafia blocks.
Building the Bin Structure
With mafia blocks, machinery, and a placement plan in hand, it’s time to build. Here is the best way to build your bin structure:
Constructing the Frame
Start with the basic frame; when planning, marking your outline makes this step easier. Layout the base layer of mafia blocks to show the frame of your setup. This is a good moment to examine your work and see if this is the best format for your yard.
Adding the Sides and Dividers
With a base frame laid and satisfaction with the layout, you can begin building the bins up by creating sides and dividers between bins. Consider your expected peak material volume when constructing the sides/dividers to ensure you contain all material, preventing spillage, leakage, etc.
Selecting the Correct Size for Your Bins
As mentioned, the size of your bins is important to the overall success and efficiency of your yard’s operation. Thorough planning is the superior way to ensure everything is set up properly, saving time and headaches down the line.
Balancing Supply & Demand
Finding the right balance of supply and demand in your materials is a great way to ensure that your bins are ready for the task. You need your bins able to hold your planned maximum volume, but at the same time, you don’t want too much material such that it takes up too much space.
Why Building Bigger Bins is Better
In general, building bigger bins is going to be better, especially if you have the space to spare. Having too much material such that it overflows is a loss for your yard and should be avoided at all costs. Bigger bins allow for increases in supply and demand while maintaining efficiency in the yard.
Maintenance Tips
While durable, landscape supply yards built from mafia blocks still require some maintenance to maximize their potential. There are both routine practices for upkeep and repairs when damages accumulate:
Routine Upkeep
For routine upkeep of mafia block bins, you can start with the occasional spray/wash with a hose. Especially when supply is low, cleaning your blocks is a way to improve aesthetics and remove abrasive debris. At the same time, keep an eye on your walls to see if they are starting to lean/look off. This could be a sign of greater damages to come should the problem persist.
Dealing with Wear and Tear
Overtime, wear and tear will start to accumulate. Maybe machinery occasionally clips a bin or the constant cycle of material slowly breaks them down. If specific blocks are an issue, you can selectively replace mafia blocks when stock is low to reinvigorate a bin with sound walls.

Conclusion
Bins are truly unavoidable in a landscape supply yard when properly storing and maximizing the efficiency of an operation. Mafia blocks are the superior way to construct them, but the best bins come from thorough planning beforehand to ensure a great bin layout and proper bin volume to handle the supply and demand of your yard. For a more in depth look at not only how to construct landscape supply bins, but also how to run a landscape supply yard in general, check out DeFeo Materials and their free online course that goes through the ins and outs of the business from people who have been there and done that. Calling upon years of experience, DeFeo Materials has the information you need for free!
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