Having a reliable drainage system does not only help you maintain your garden for a longer period, but you also don’t have to worry about failure in retention walls. With that said, there is quite a wide variety of materials that can be used to make the drainage system more efficient.
You will often notice people talking about different materials on online forums and their drainage abilities. So, let’s cover whether or not pea gravel can be good for your drainage system. If you were thinking of using this material, then the following information should help.
Is Pea Gravel Good for Drainage?
While developing your drainage system, it is common for gardeners to think that pea gravel is a good option. However, that is not always the case. Even though pea gravel can be moderately good for drainage, it can’t be compared with crushed stones. The size of the stones in the gravel does not provide sufficient space for the water to flow from. This is why most experts recommend the use of crushed stones while filling in your French drain.
Having larger-sized stone make it easier for the water to pass while stopping anything that might clog up your drain. On the other hand, if you’re using pea gravel, then the dirt will get stuck between the stones and create a muddy mixture that might clog up your drain. This is why you should never use pea gravel for your complete system. So, if you were thinking of buying pea gravel, it won’t provide you with any extensive benefits.
The only plus point of using pea gravel over crushed stones is that the pea gravel is easier to manage. You can fill in the complete area evenly by dumping a few bags of this material. On the other hand, it can take a bit of time to manage the layout of crushed stones to accommodate for the best drainage.
Overall, you can use pea gravel for drainage, but it is common to notice clogging issues and poor water flows with this system. If you’re a beginner, then using pea gravel will make it easy for you to complete the process. But there is a huge chance that you might need to modify the system in the future. Hopefully, you will be able to make a better decision about the layout of your garden after going through this information.
To Conclude
The Pea Gravel does bring a reasonable amount of drainage capacity to the system. However, you can achieve much better results with the use of crushed stones. There is just not enough space between the stones in the pea gravel. The water is not able to flow smoothly and creates a muddy mixture that clogs up the whole system.
On the other hand, using crushed stones provide you with complete control over the garden drainage. The only hard part is that you will have to put in a few hours extra to manage the layout of stones over the drainage system. Other than that, you won’t have to worry about this drain in the future.