Really dissapointed: 1/3+ of my yard is a septic drainfield

[tinuviel_k]

I just need to have a sad little rant...

I a really disappointed! We have been house hunting, and are scheduled to close on a wonderful little house at the end of the month. One of the reasons I loved this house was the large, sunny, fenced back yard that I thought was perfect for a huge garden. (Not enormous, but a nice big city lot). I've been cooking up plans for fruit trees and vines, nuts, herbs, vegetables... I really would love to go the permaculture route and have a food-intensive yard. Not much grass, but tons of garden space.

Well, I goofed.

I have never lived in a home with septic before, only sewer. I didn't realize that such a large portion of the back yard (1/3 to 1/2 of the yard, not sure how much) would be taken up by the septic drain field, and that I can't plant a garden over it, or plant trees near it. Apparently the roots will get into the system and clog it up. And big raised beds on top are not an option: it will keep the drain field from operating as it should, and would contaminate the food.

I am so disappointed! The best, sunniest, and clearest part of the yard is where the drain field is. I can plant in a few other places, but not nearly as much as I could have. And not the wonderful broad range of plants and trees that I was hoping for. I have been looking forward to this for so long: owning a home, having a fabulous garden. Now to find that I've messed it all up by choosing a house where I just can't use so much of the yard... I feel like an idiot.

[journeymom]

I'm so, so sorry! I had a similar experience. And I really mourned the situation.

Please do NOT beat yourself up about this! You didn't know how the system works (I've never heard of a septic drain field!). Can you put a lawn there? A clothes line? Chickens...?

By the way, is it safe for kids to play there??

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Don't be so hard on yourself!

There's lots of people who do more with less. Just get creative! I grow in big boxes in my front yard because the back yard gets little to no sunlight & is next to the neighbors' black walnut.

Maybe you can do some cool big pots for some of your trees you were dreaming about?

[kriket]

Originally Posted by journeymom

: (I've never heard of a septic drain field!). Can you put a lawn there? A clothes line? Chickens...?

Is that like a leach field? Thats what we had when we were in the country.

Chickens, goats, rabbits (all tasty and useful) love the rich grass that grows on leach fields. Green house?

Be sure to remember your front yard! Fruit trees would look great lining your driveway!

[mystic_eye_cda]

Square foot gardening

I don't see any reason you can't cover a fair bit of it with square foot gardens if you did the raised ones, the raised beds are highly recommended anyway because it stops trees and other things from getting into your garden. Apparently when you put "perfectly moist nutrient dense soil" in one area it attracts problems.

Square foot gardening is also far more efficient in terms of how much crop you get per square foot, reduces the amount of weeds to almost nothing, and helps control pests. I wouldn't think 4'x4' boxes that drain excess water with 2-4' aisles between them would block enough water to be an issue. You'd probably want to look into the feasibility of replacing the grass under the boxes and possibly the aisles with gravel or some shade loving ground cover. Not sure what would be best with septic. If you were going to raise the boxes significantly the grass might be ok, but its easiest to just put the boxes 4-8" off the ground than up at table top level, but either is fine.

Sorry for the cached page but this page has just be redesigned and I can't find anything *lol*
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=ca


http://www.squarefootgardening.com


You can either use untreated cedar or any wood that is oil treated. Many people use pallets. You can also buy pre-fab boxes from the site. Or some people use the boxes they ship... ummmm M16s? in. I'm not American so its not something I could ever get.

[tinuviel_k]

Thanks for the advice and thoughts!

I swung by the house and took a little look around the front yard. There is plenty of space for at least three dwarf fruit trees and several raised beds besides.
As for the back, I decided that if we ever get a dog we'll need some lawn space, not just gardens. So the drain field area can be kept in grass and be the fenced in dog area (so said pup doesn't dig around the rest of the garden.

I am feeling MUCH better about it.

[kriket]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

\so said pup doesn't dig around the rest of the garden.

It's easier to train the dog not to go in the garden than put up a fence! We have 2 dogs, and only the little one goes into the garden (he can stand between the rows, so he does. He just sniffs things. The only time we have had a problem is when my husband yells at him to get out and he tears a$$ out because he is in trouble, and whips a plant. Most of the time he just lays under the leaves of the cucumbers or squash to keep cool.

We don't have diggers tho, YMMV.

[mattemma04]

We have a septic.Neighbors is close by if not in our yard.I just put edibles on the other side of the yard,and plenty of stuff in the front yard.Eventually either the septics will be replaced,or we will be required to hook up to city sewer. If replaced I am hoping both ours and/or neighbors septics will be moved to the front yard.

I am planting things in anticipation of septic/sewer needs in the future,so I don't loose my trees and shrubs.

[wombatclay]

It's true you can't put trees and other 'root intensive' things on the septic field, and you need to be careful about putting too much weight on it/covering it with too much stuff, but we actually have an amazing herb garden planted on the field and it's fine. The plants LOVE the extra rich soil and grow to an amazing size. Now, I'm not sure how happy I'd be eating a large chunk of my diet from plants exposed to the septic field, but I'm comfortable with the herbs. Plus it looks and smells lovely (which was my main goal with that garden) while keeping the kiddos off the field.

Good luck!

ETA- I grew up with septic and I don't know how much the seller/agent told you so... if your system includes a septic tank it's going to need to be pumped out every 2-3 years. Around here a seller generally has to have the tank pumped before they sell a place, but that may be a regional thing so check to see if your tank has been emptied recently. You can buy powder you dump into the tank (via the toilet) to keep the tank/field happy. You can "flood" a septic tank/field by running a lot of watier into it over a short period of time (say, doing a whole day of laundry and a couple showers) so keep that in mind. You'll get icky wet spots in the field and backed up drains in the house if it's flooded. Wikipedia has a nice list of "potential problems" and the EPA has a quick guide too so take a quick look just to be on the safe side.

[HeatherAtHome]

For emptying, check with your town. Our town will come and empty it every other year for "free" (it's paid through our taxes) while at my parents, it's required every other year and the town sends you the bill.

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

I am feeling MUCH better about it.

I'm glad!

[Chicky2]

What kind of septic is it? Does it have sprinklers that go off periodically (an aerobic system) or just a leachfield? Be sure you know how many people that septic system was set up to support so you don't run into problems later on. I had extra people living in my house for a time, and it ended up costing us a lot of $ when they moved out and there were all kinds of things stuck in the septic (qtips baby wipes, a toy, etc..). Ours was set up for 10 people, but that many was just too big a strain. We had to replace our pump, and then something else (can't remember the name, sorry). Just something to check into.

I am currently working around my own septic system. Mine has sprinklers and I have areas I can't plant because of pipes going to the tank and the sprinklers. Our solution has been raised beds and some will go up on cinder blocks. We have lots of room in our "back yard", but again, a large portion is taken up by our septic. Man is the grass green and lush, though! My chickens and goats love it!

Do you have a nice sunny porch? Square foot gardening beds along the porch, maybe?

[DirtRoadMama]

I have a septic field right behind my house too. I'm not in your same situation, because I have a small acreage, but I'm putting asparagus on the property line (I've about 20 feet of planting space before the septic), then I'm putting honeybee attracting flowers over the septic field. The main garden space is on the other side of the septic field. My theory is I can get more out of a square foot garden with lots of bees to pollinate, than I can with a conventional garden with no bees attracted.

I'm going to build a top-bar beehive this winter, and try to attract a wild swarm next spring, so this summer will give me a chance to plant some flowers to feed them.

Ok, main points... 1 - plant the property line around the field, 2 - square foot garden to maximize small-space yields, 3 - attract bees to ensure maximum pollination.

[Chicky2]

Originally Posted by DirtRoadMama

I'm going to build a top-bar beehive this winter, and try to attract a wild swarm next spring, so this summer will give me a chance to plant some flowers to feed them.

We just built our first top bar hive this past weekend! We have a wild swarm taking over our cabin in the woods. I'm hoping they'll just go right in...

[lmbjer]

Are you certain that there will be no sewers constructed in your area anytime soon?

In our county the health department requires that the septic is tested if a home is sold. If a home is sold and the septic failed it must be replaced immediately. However, if a sewer project is slated to occur in the area within two years the health department will approve a temporary hold.

Just wanted to throw that out there. I feel for you. The systems in our area are UGLY and nearly all of them feature a large concrete box, most often right in the middle of the front yard.

To give you an idea of how much of an issue this is where I live, 95% of the county is estimated to have a failing septic system. And roughly 45% of the county is on a septic system.

[tinuviel_k]

Originally Posted by lmbjer

Are you certain that there will be no sewers constructed in your area anytime soon?

In our county the health department requires that the septic is tested if a home is sold. If a home is sold and the septic failed it must be replaced immediately. However, if a sewer project is slated to occur in the area within two years the health department will approve a temporary hold.

Just wanted to throw that out there. I feel for you. The systems in our area are UGLY and nearly all of them feature a large concrete box, most often right in the middle of the front yard.

To give you an idea of how much of an issue this is where I live, 95% of the county is estimated to have a failing septic system. And roughly 45% of the county is on a septic system.

Our health department requires the same thing. The septic system will be tested and pumped before closing.

Sewer is actually available to the neighborhood and runs down the entire street. If/when the system does fail we will be required to hook up to the sewer line. However, that will cost about $10,000 total to do, so as much as I wish we didn't have septic it really makes more financial sense for us to keep it. $10,000 hook in, plus $516 a year in monthly sewer fees is a lot more than the $200 we'll spend every 3-5 years getting the septic tank pumped.

Lucky for us the sewer already runs down our street (for if/when we do need to switch ): otherwise to hook in would cost $22,000-$30,000 MORE per home to get the sewer to our area. Cough*choke*gasp.

[mattemma04]

We have the ugly cement box too.Ours is a sand pit that has water flushed into it.I hated it the first few years,but am used to it now.It gets some frogs if it is slow to drain.If it were in the front yard I would plant ornamental grass around it to hide it.

We have to pay for an inspection before sale.We used to have a yearly inspection we paid for,but that was stopped by the county.Now we just have to have a company check and clean the system yearly. I pump every few years too.I do way more with my 5 yo system than my neighbors with their 50+ yo systems.I know my one neighbor has not pumped his in 10 years!

Sewer fees are high here too,so I am in no hurry to switch even though that septic area would make a good spot for a pool.

[wombatclay]

Our septic is "invisible" (well, there's a manhole sort of lid under a few inches of dirt). BUT the cabin we bought is on a really tricky lot (forest and hills). Of course, the only clear and mostly level space is the septic field! Argh! So instead of being able to add onto the "obvious" side of the cabin we had to pay for some massive forest/earth moving just to add another 12 feet. If I'd realized how close the septic was to the cabin (and code requirements for "distance to house") I don't know if we would have bought this place.

And yikes for that sticker price! Sewers are nice but good gobs of golly that's a heck of a price tag! Our neighbors have told us about the cost of getting electric service out here and I'm so glad it happened a few years before we moved because it sounded similarly crazy.

[Perry525]

Let's try to resolve your problem.
Every part of the world seems to have its own regulations when it comes to drain fields.
There are various pattens of layout, some go for parallel pipes, some for rectangles.
Some drain fields are laid four inches below the surface, some as deep as 18 inches.
Some are laid like the capital letter E.
And some are laid as two interlocking E's.

The point of all this is: There is lot's of space between the pipes,where you can plant/grow quite large plants. The pipes are usually 3 feet apart.

There are lots of plants with very shallow roots, that will grow on top of a drain pipe, it doesn't have to be “only grass.”

[lmbjer]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

Our health department requires the same thing. The septic system will be tested and pumped before closing.

Sewer is actually available to the neighborhood and runs down the entire street. If/when the system does fail we will be required to hook up to the sewer line. However, that will cost about $10,000 total to do, so as much as I wish we didn't have septic it really makes more financial sense for us to keep it. $10,000 hook in, plus $516 a year in monthly sewer fees is a lot more than the $200 we'll spend every 3-5 years getting the septic tank pumped.

Lucky for us the sewer already runs down our street (for if/when we do need to switch ): otherwise to hook in would cost $22,000-$30,000 MORE per home to get the sewer to our area. Cough*choke*gasp.

You are fortunate in that you are not required to hook up. In Ohio if you are within a certain distance from an existing sewer you must hook up. The cost is insane isn't it?