What great information! I did a boat load of research last spring but missed this post. It would have saved me a LOT of time if I'd seen it. I see you recommended using WASHED masonry sand. It might be useful to mention the importance of all the material being washed because the fine material that is washed out is the stuff that clogs up the voids. I've also read that the landscape cloth, or soil separator cloth, will get clogged even more quickly than gravel so is being recommended less than it was a decade ago.
I needed more storage than either of these scenarios so I added perforated drain pipe that leads away from my coop & run. It's topped with coarse washed sand. Much better this winter. Now we have to figure out how to divert the runoff from the neighbor's driveway behind our fence & run. Even though the road bends, the water doesn't! And being a paved surface it increases the volume of water. We dumped a load of large gravel back there, but now I can understand why playground sand would have been a more effective barrier. Although a concrete gutter & curb would be my optimum choice!
Thanks again for taking the time to give us all this great information!
I needed more storage than either of these scenarios so I added perforated drain pipe that leads away from my coop & run. It's topped with coarse washed sand. Much better this winter. Now we have to figure out how to divert the runoff from the neighbor's driveway behind our fence & run. Even though the road bends, the water doesn't! And being a paved surface it increases the volume of water. We dumped a load of large gravel back there, but now I can understand why playground sand would have been a more effective barrier. Although a concrete gutter & curb would be my optimum choice!
Thanks again for taking the time to give us all this great information!
