### How to Use Pea Gravel Calculator

Enter the depth in Inches

Enter width in feet or inches

Enter length in feet or inches

The cubic yards required will be calculated

# Pea Gravel Calculator

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### How To calculate how much Pea Gravel you need

With this calculator you can calculate how much gravel you need for a rectangle area, triangular area and a round/circular area.

Example 1: Rectangle Area
• You measure the length of the area which is 8 feet.
• We then measure the width: 5 feet and depth: 5 inches.
• We then get the area of the rectangle Length X Width: 8 X 5 = 40
• We divide depth by 12 to convert inches to feet
• Now we get the volume with Depth X Area: (5/12) X 40 = 16.66
• Now we divide the volume by 27: 16.66/27 = 0.617 cubic yards are needed of pea gravel
Example 2: Triangle Area
• You measure the depth:3 inches
• We then measure the length, each side of the triangle is equal at 4 feet.
• We calculate the area with 1/4 X Square root[(4+4+4) X (4+4-4)X(4+4-4)X(4+4-4)] = 6.92
• Now we multiply the area by depth: 6.92 X (3/12) = 1.73
• Again divide depth by 12 since its in inches
• We than divide the volume by 27: 1.73/27 = 0.064 cubic yards of pea gravel
Example 3: Circle Area
• We measure the depth at 4 inches
• The width is 3 feet
• We calculate the area PI(3.14) X (width/2): 3.14 X (3/2)^2 = 7.065
• We then multiply the area by depth to get the volume: 7.065 X 4/12 = 2.355
• Once again divide depth by 12
• Now we get the cubic yards: 2.355/27 = 0.087
• 0.087 cubic yards are needed

Pea Gravel is often used as a versatile and decorative ground cover. Resulting from the natural weathering in water, these small pebbles (often measuring 3/8”) are often seen in use on driveways, garden beds, playgrounds, walkways, patios and aquariums; they are popular due to their durability, smooth texture and variety of colors available.

Considering the low maintenance required and cost, they can suffice in place of organic mulch for your landscaping project, asphalt or concrete for your driveway and a more colorful and safe surface option as opposed to crush stone in a high traffic area.

Uses for Pea Gravel:

• Driveways
• Relative low cost of installation
• Eco friendly alternative to asphalt / concrete
• Drains water and prevents muddy driveways
• Less maintenance (apart from filling/dislodging loosened stones from time to time) than to fill cracked concrete or lay fresh tar on asphalt

Be sure to have at least 4-6 inches.

• Walkways/Patio
• Easy to install, a low cost alternative to high maintenance wooden decks
• Many people enjoy walking on the gravel walkway and find the sound relaxing.
• Smooth texture is safe for children and pets

Determine whether a base layer is required. If the soil is dense and clay-like, a depth of 2.5 inches of soil will serve as base. If soil is loose or sandy in consistency, add a total depth of 4 – 4.5 inches in order to lay tamped down packed stone as the base layer.

Lay landscape fabric prior to filling in pea gravel, leaving a half inch to the landscape trim to prevent over spilling. Popular edgings used can be galvanized steel, plastic, cobblestone, bricks, pressure treated wood or cedar.

• Home Gardens
• Reusable and no need for annual replacement as opposed to organic mulch
• Less prone to mold
• Variety of color selection to stand out from foliage
• Drains excessive water to prevent drowning (good for plants preferring drier conditions)
• Retains heat from sunlight (beneficial for plants such as Spanish poppy, evergreens or thyme)

Be sure to be rid of weeds or lay plastic on the soil before laying pea gravel and plan ahead to have proper landscape trimming as mentioned above to keep the gravels in place. A layer of 6 inches is ideal.

• Aquariums
• Used in place of pebbles or cobbles for its decorative purpose.
• Variety of colors available

Wash pea gravel before use and place at the bottom of the aquarium floor before filling with water.

• Drainage
• Similar to crushed stone, pea gravel can be used for underground projects such as drainage or pipe bedding effectively.

Ensure the appropriate type of pea gravel is selected for the project – angular in nature and irregular shaped, rather than open graded, smooth pea gravel, to fulfill the needed compact density and prevent spreading.