Nice job on the dry well—sounds like a lot of digging, especially in clay! We did something similar a few years back, and citronella really helped with mosquitoes for us too. Glad it worked out for you.
We had to dig a dry well too when we drained our pool last summer—definitely not fun in heavy clay soil. Citronella helped us a bit, but honestly, setting up a fan nearby made the biggest difference with mosquitoes... guess they can't handle the breeze.
"setting up a fan nearby made the biggest difference with mosquitoes... guess they can't handle the breeze."
Funny you mention the fan trick—I stumbled onto that by accident a couple years back. I was draining our pool and rigged up some box fans just to keep cool, but noticed it kept the mosquitoes away better than citronella ever did. Never tried digging a dry well though... how deep did you have to go in that clay? Seems like it'd be rough going.
Did a dry well last summer—had to go about 4 feet down in heavy clay. Not fun, but doable. Just pace yourself and have a good spade handy... and maybe a cold drink waiting afterward.
Did a similar project myself a couple years back—heavy clay here, too. Digging is definitely manageable if you break it into smaller chunks. One thing I'd suggest is adding some gravel or crushed stone at the bottom of your dry well to help with drainage. Clay can be notoriously slow to drain, and the gravel layer really helps speed things up.
Also, think about positioning carefully—make sure it's far enough away from your pool and house foundations. Learned that one the hard way when my first attempt turned into a mini swamp near the patio... not exactly ideal for summer BBQs.
And yeah, cold drinks afterward are mandatory. I'd even argue they're necessary halfway through! Good luck with it, take your time, and it'll turn out fine.
