rules governing septic systems and gardens

[knuckledragger]

What are the rules governing septic systems and gardens. On the land we are trying to buy, we discovered that the lined for the septic system lie under the area that my wife wanted to put the garden. I remember hearing that you could not garden over or near a septic system, but I don't know how far from it you should put the garden.

What are the rules governing septic systems and gardens?

[Tricky Grama]

It would depend on the restrictions/non-restrictions in your area. Would help if you'd include where you are located: under your 'join date' in the right-hand corner of your posts.

Just remember what Erma Bombeck used to say-"the grass is always greener over the septic tank"!

Patty

[knuckledragger]

I am in West Tennessee, near the Mississippi River.

[Sawmill Jim]

Don't think it matters .Can't think the roots would go that deep anyway .

[Alice In TX/MO]

Call your county health department. Rules and systems vary.

[7thswan]

I have a garden over my septic field. The field is very deep. Garden plants are too shallow to cause a problem.

[susieM]

As long as you don't plant any shrubs or trees.

[knuckledragger]

Do you have to worry about any of the pathogens from human waste products contaminating the produce?

[Sonshine]

LOL I'm watching this one pretty close because we just put an herb garden over the spetic field.

[Marcia in MT]

Running heavy equipment (even a lawn tractor) over leach lines is not a good idea.

[Pink_Carnation]

As I understand it the only area that would be a problem would be the actual drain field. Over the tanks it and pipes you wouldn't want heavy equipment but on the drain field there is also concern about the amount of watering overloading the drainfield. Some of the leach lines are fairly close to the surface also so your plants might get into them or you might hit them with a shovel.

[texican]

Find another place for the garden. Just because we 'want' to do something, doesn't mean it's going to work out in the real world. My pa wanted to put a pond on a certain spot on our property. His pa, and the county agent, said it'd never work... wouldn't hold water in the summer, and would get flooded out in the winter. He abandoned the plan. In his memory, I had a trackhoe build a watering hole for the cows in the spot... holds water, but does get flooded regularly.

If you were putting in a garden on top of a leach field, and it was your leach field originally, that'd be one thing. Gardening over someone else's toxic waste... why? Of course, if very un-nice bodily fluids from total strangers doesn't raise an alarm, then I'd say go ahead and do it. Take a water sample... send it off for a test... see what goodies are in it. Then go from there.

[rambler]

Your worry is probably more what the garden will do to the leach field, rather than what the leach field will do to the garden.

You want your plants more than 3 feet from the leach pipe. I'd not be real happy with carrots growing over a legal leach pipe in many locations - which require less than 2 feet of cover, sometimes a foot is all.

What are you thinking?

But, anyhow, the problem is that the leach field needs to get rid of water; and a gaden you try to add woater a lot of times. A leach field you want a nice cover of grass on it, uses water & insulates the soil in winter. A graden you want bare. You want light traffic & mellow soils on the leach lines; a garden gets compacted paths & heavier traffic on bare rootless soils.... And so on.

Put the garden somewhere else. Be good for the garden produce to not be around the possible Draino & pathagens, and real good for the leach lines.

--->Paul

[7thswan]

Have you had your field checked before you buy it? You should. I did and now I also know that it it is over 4 feet deep.

[ronbre]

I wish I could show you the pictures of my septic system gardens..you can see them on the gardenweb site under garden party or on the www.permies.com site..but i can't post photos on here.

i have a 60 x 60 raised up 4' drainfield behind our house..we had the contractor bring fill from our field to gently slope the land away from the drainfield on all sides as well as backfilling around our house..so it is like a gentle hill to the drainfield directly outside our back door..and it was UGLY.

OK so i put our tiny greenhouse over the tank..warm..and put in some nice rich soil and grow tomato and pepper plants right in the ground there..around the greenhouse is a vegetable and herb garden..directly beyond that is the top of the drainfield garden..i put a round lawn in the center, that was the hardest part to establish..and then i have a path going down on the front on each side and on the back on one side..the garden around the round lawn is shaped like the donut part of a toilet seat..the opening of the front of the "seat" is toward the house..and then where the hinges would be i have a grape arbor..

the two curved parts of the toilet seat and then also where the tank would be..i have mixed beds of all kinds of perennial flowers and plants, vines, herbs, shrubs and fruit trees..in these gardens i have cherry and apple trees..dwarf..just outside of this garden are 3 larger trees, one apple, one ash and one catalpa..

my gardens are lush and green and healthy..

there are plants that you should avoid near gardens..those would be anything with hugely invasive roots like willow !!! i don't put rooty crops directly over the draintiles..but all around them..over the draintiles themselves is the lawn..

i have had a septic guy check our system twice in the last 7 years since it was put in and it is working splendidly !!

[cfabe]

You should not garden over the leach field. The problem is not contamination of the soil or garden produce but rather compaction of the soil over the drainfield. On a well designed leach field up to half of the water is eliminated by evaporation to the air rather than just being absorbed into the groundwater table. If you work the soil as a garden it will become compacted and no longer evaporate water which will reduce the capacity of the leach field. Also you will want to water the garden and adding water to a leach field is counter productive.

[ronbre]

I don't have that problem as I don't WORK UP THE SOIL..the driect leach field area is lawn..the gardens are on the banks on either side around it..in a circle..there is no problem with compacting the soil..and I don't use plants that have invasive roots ..however a neighbor tree is always sending baby maples into my field area.

so pulling them is necessary.

all the leachfields we have ever had in our family have always been used for gardens..my parents..inlaws..everyone..and none have ever been a problem..sure you don't want to plant things that require a LOT of water right on top of your draininage system..but there are tons of shallow rooted plants that don't need a lot of water..the best type are meadow type..here i use things like purple coneflower, daisy, herbs, near the top of the drainfield..but grass right on top..and then as i move away down the banks the plants get larger and larger with dwarf trees at the fringes..mostly fruit trees.

i seldome need to water anything..just when i first plant something new.