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Old 18-06-2003, 01:56 PM
Joe Zorzin
 
Posts: n/a
Default grass on a mound style septic field

Wow, a newsgroup on lawns! What will they think of next.

Anyways, last year I had a new septic field built here in a mountain top
hill town in western Massachusetts- where the ground won't perk due to heavy
clay soils.

The new septic field is a huge "mound" type. The contractors brought in
something like 38 huge truck loads of gravel and sand and whatever else goes
into it. It's almost the size of a tennis court! The top is elevated like a
mound with a gentle slope in all directions. The contractor told me that
there is 4" of top soil on top of all that sand and gravel.

The lawn that they seeded hasn't come in well. At the time, I had no idea of
what type of seed is available- since then I've learned about "contractor
mix" which I think has some weeds in it which can grab hold quick to hold
the dirt in place. Along the edges of the mound, the grass has come in much
better- but in the middle it looks sparse.

I'm trying to keep the cost down in fixing the lawn problem. Most people
seem to think the best solution is to spread out more grass seed. That may
be true, but I also wonder if the top soil is deficient and it's probably
excessively well drained in the middle.

If I were to spread seed, what type is best? Can I spread fertilizer at the
same time? Any other suggestions?

We've had far too much rain this spring, so a shortage of water at this time
can't be the problem.

--
Joe Zorzin