How to lay drainage fleece
Updated: 16 October 2026
You are lining a French drain in a wet lawn, and the fleece, the clean stone, and the perforated pipe have to go in in an order that keeps soil out of the pipe. This page is how to lay drainage fleece for that trench. It follows public UK install notes, and those notes do not all use the same overlap. Product choice, including gsm and which cut to buy, stays on the [drainage fleece buying guide](/hub/weed-control/drainage-fleece/sub/drainage-fleece-buying-guide). Prices and the amazon.co.uk cuts sit on the [drainage fleece comparison](/hub/weed-control/drainage-fleece). The Products Compared editorial team updated this page on 16 October 2026 from those listings and from Draintex, Growtivation, and Drainage Superstore notes. We did not install a drain or run a lab test. If you buy through our links, a qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are lining a French drain in a wet lawn, and the fleece, the clean stone, and the perforated pipe have to go in in an order that keeps soil out of the pipe. This page is how to lay drainage fleece for that trench.
You are lining a French drain in a wet lawn, and the fleece, the clean stone, and the perforated pipe have to go in in an order that keeps soil out of the pipe. This page is how to lay drainage fleece for that trench. It follows public UK install notes, and those notes do not all use the same overlap. Product choice, including gsm and which cut to buy, stays on the drainage fleece buying guide. Prices and the amazon.co.uk cuts sit on the drainage fleece comparison. The Products Compared editorial team updated this page on 16 October 2026 from those listings and from Draintex, Growtivation, and Drainage Superstore notes. We did not install a drain or run a lab test. If you buy through our links, a qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Width | Cut size | Supplied as | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Spudulica Spudulica 1.1 m x 8 m trench fleece | 1.1 m | 1.1 × 8 m | Cut piece | 9.8 | about £29.55 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Spudulica Spudulica 1.1 m x 10 m 100 gsm fleece | 1.1 m | 1.1 × 10 m | Boxed piece | 9.2 | about £30.91 | View offer |
| Best value |  Spudulica Spudulica Caisse 2.25 m x 8 m | 2.25 m | 2.25 × 8 m | Cut piece | 9.0 | about £37.55 | View offer |
On this page
Set the trench
Set the fall before you unfold any fabric. Growtivation’s French-drain sequence uses about a 1% fall, which is 10 mm of drop for every metre of run. Over an 8 m trench that is about 80 mm lower at the outfall than at the top. A flat bed lets water sit in the stone. Aim the fall away from the house toward an outfall you have already chosen, such as a soakaway crate or an existing drain that is allowed to take the water. This page does not design that outfall.
Find services before you dig. A narrow garden trench can still cross a water pipe or a cable, so locate them rather than guessing a depth. If the run needs a digger, sits tight against a wall, or the soakaway serves a building, stop and use a contractor. English notes such as CNC Building Control talk about soakaways at least 5 m from buildings. That figure is not the rule for every UK nation, and siting is a separate check from lining the trench.
When the trench is open, the fleece goes in before the stone. Reviewers of the Spudulica cuts describe folded, boxed pieces rather than a roll on a spindle, so lay the sheet out and check the length. One UK review of the 1.1 m by 10 m cut measured it short of 10 m. A 1.1 m width suits a narrow trench. A 2.25 m width covers more in one piece when the base is wider than a slot. Measure the developed width, both sides plus the bottom, before you assume the narrow cut will close.
Line, stone, pipe
Line the trench so the non-woven fleece covers the bottom and comes up both sides. Drainage Superstore describes the fabric held up the sides, then aggregate to about one third of the depth, then the pipe, then more aggregate, then the fabric closed over the top. Draintex’s installation sheet, written for that brand’s fabric, asks for clean stone around the pipe, about 75 mm of it, and specifies about 10 mm non-limestone gravel. A UK review in this set used a 300 mm trench in clay, fleece, about 20 mm rounded gravel, and a perforated pipe. Match the stone to the guide for the system you are building, and keep it clean. Soil tipped in with the gravel is the silt the fleece was meant to stop.
Lay the pipe on the stone bed, with bedding under it. Growtivation’s sequence puts the holes downward so water enters from the stone below. Some land-drain coils are perforated all round, and a half-perforated pipe still needs its slots in the stone rather than facing open soil. Keep a steady fall while you bed it. A high spot in the middle of an 8 m run will hold water even if the two ends are 80 mm apart.
Fold the sides in only after the stone covers the pipe. If you close the fleece too early you cannot see whether the pipe is bedded, and if you leave the sides down in the trench the soil falls in as you backfill. Spudulica’s own French-drain note treats the geotextile as the separator around that stone. Weed membrane is the wrong sheet for this wrap, because it is built to block light rather than to filter. If you are still unsure which fabric you have in the barrow, read drainage fleece vs weed membrane before you backfill.
Overlap and cover
The overlap figure is not one number. Draintex specifies a minimum of 300 mm for its trench sheet. A UK review on artificial grass in this category used an overlap of at least 150 mm. Crate notes elsewhere in the sources use 150 mm or about 200 mm. Follow the figure in the guide for the system you are building, and do not average them. On a long run, overlap in the direction of the fall so the upstream sheet lies over the downstream sheet, and pin or weight the lap until the stone holds it. A join of a few centimetres will open when you tread the gravel.
Leave enough fabric above the trench to close the top with that same overlap. If a 1.1 m strip is already used up by the two sides and the bottom, you do not have a flap, and forcing it leaves a gap where soil enters. That is the moment to fetch a wider cut rather than to stretch the narrow one. Cover the fleece the same day. Lotrak treats ultraviolet light as an installation exposure for polypropylene geotextile, and a white sheet left proud of the ground both degrades and shows. Soil, turf, or the designed cover goes over the closed fabric.
If the outfall is plastic infiltration crates, the trench method stops at the pipe entry and the wrap continues on the soakaway crate membrane wrap page.
When a contractor should take over
Hand the job over if the soakaway serves a building, you are inside a tight clearance of the house, the ground needs a digger, or the base will be trafficked and you need a declared strength these listings do not print. Locating buried services is part of that stop if you cannot trace them. Lining a short, shallow lawn trench, with the fall set and the stone kept clean, is the domestic job this sequence describes.
Common questions
Which side of the fleece goes up?
These non-woven cuts are a felt, and the install notes we used do not ask you to keep a shiny face upward the way some woven weed sheets do. Lay it so it lines the bottom and both sides, with enough spare to close the top. If a particular brand prints a laying arrow, follow that sheet. The job is full contact with the soil on the outside and clean stone on the inside.
How much fabric should you leave above the trench?
Leave enough to fold across the top and to make the overlap your guide specifies, whether that is 150 mm or 300 mm. A 300 mm wide trench with 350 mm sides already uses about a metre before that flap. If the 1.1 m cut is flush with the turf, it will not close. Measure the developed width with a tape before you cut the piece to length.
What overlap should you use?
Use the overlap in the guide for the product you are installing. Draintex’s trench sheet says a minimum of 300 mm. A review in this set used at least 150 mm under artificial grass. Other crate sheets say 150 mm or about 200 mm. Those are different details. Copying 150 mm onto a system whose note says 300 mm leaves a short lap.
Does the pipe go holes up or holes down?
Growtivation’s French-drain sequence lays the perforations downward, into the stone bed, so silt is less able to drop straight into the slots. Bed the pipe on clean stone, with about 75 mm around it if you are following the Draintex note. A pipe that is perforated all round still needs that stone envelope. Do not lay the coil on bare clay.
Can you use limestone?
Draintex’s sheet specifies about 10 mm clean non-limestone gravel for that system. Limestone can break down into fines that clog the fleece and the pipe. A UK review here used rounded gravel of about 20 mm in a clay trench. Keep the stone washed and keep soil out of the barrow. The fleece cannot filter gravel you have already mixed with clay.
Can you leave the fleece showing?
Cover it. Polypropylene geotextile is not a finished surface, and Lotrak treats sunlight as something the sheet should see only while you install it. White fleece also shows through thin chippings, which reviewers have noted. Close the fabric and cover it with soil, turf, or the gravel build-up the design uses. A strip left proud at the lawn edge is both a snag and a UV exposure.
When should a contractor take over?
Hand the job over if the soakaway serves a building, you are inside a tight clearance of the house, the ground needs a digger, or the base will be trafficked and you need a declared strength these listings do not print. Locating buried services is part of that stop if you cannot trace them. Lining a short, shallow lawn trench is the domestic job this sequence describes.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the product listings used for this page. gsm, permeability and puncture lines are listing claims or review notes, not a test run for this page.
- Approved Document H: drainage and waste disposal (retrieved October 2026)
- CNC Building Control: soakaway size FAQ (retrieved October 2026)
- BRE Digest 365 via UNDA (retrieved October 2026)
- BS EN 13252:2016 geotextiles for drainage (retrieved October 2026)
- AGS: BS 8661:2019 geotextile guidance (retrieved October 2026)
- Geoworks: where to use geotextiles (retrieved October 2026)
- EasyMerchant: geotextile membranes explained (retrieved October 2026)
- Growtivation: fabric for wrapping soakaway crates (retrieved October 2026)