How to Make a Dry Well Using Gravel
- 1). Dig a four-foot-deep hole with the post-hole digger at the lowest spot in your flower bed, or where the most water collects after a rainstorm. The hole should be approximately six to eight inches in diameter. If you run into a barrier while digging, such as a large, immoveable rock or substrate, measure the final depth of the hole.
- 2). Cut a length of the fabric sleeve equal to twice the depth of the hole. For a four-foot-hole, cut the fabric sleeve eight feet long. Tie a simple knot in one end.
- 3). Add a shovelful of smooth, pea gravel to the cut and tied fabric drainage pipe sleeve. Shake it so the gravel settles at the bottom, on top of the knot.
- 4). Insert the fabric sleeve into the hole, knot side down, while holding on to the other end. Open up the other end at ground level and have an assistant hold it open.
- 5). Fill the fabric sleeve with more gravel, to within eight inches of the surface, then tie off the top of the gravel-filled fabric sleeve. While shoveling the gravel into the fabric sleeve, have the assistant jiggle it around a bit to help settle the gravel and ensure the fabric sleeve stretches to fill the hole.
- 6). Tie off the end of the fabric sleeve when the level of gravel is eight inches below the surface.
- 7). Add gravel to the hole on top of the tied-off fabric sleeve, until the level of the gravel is even with the surface.
- 8). Mark the location of the dry well by pounding in a small stake or inserting a decorative garden accent stake a few inches from the hole.
- 9). Cover the surface of the gravel-filled hole with the same mulch used in the rest of the flower bed.
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