septic tank and tree
 

We have an old but still used, brick built septic tank in our front (north
ish facing but big enough to get sun in parts) garden. It may or may not
have a small crack in it but the surveyor recommended the removal of the
large weeping birch growing right next to it. Ideally we'd like to replace
this with another more appropriate tree - smaller with blossom and/or
berries. Any suggestions as to something which will not damage the tank - is
there such a thing? If not then any suggestions for shrubs. Will perennials
be okay? There are lots of "sticky up bits" and man hole covers out there
which I hope to disguise or hide by putting a mixed bed around the whole
affair but, as we need reasonably frequent access, I need to work round
rather than over it all. Any suggestions will be most appreciated,
especially of strongly but sweetly scented plants :).

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

septic tank and tree
 

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 12:09:58 GMT, "H Ryder"
wrote:

We have an old but still used, brick built septic tank in our front (north
ish facing but big enough to get sun in parts) garden. It may or may not
have a small crack in it but the surveyor recommended the removal of the
large weeping birch growing right next to it. Ideally we'd like to replace
this with another more appropriate tree - smaller with blossom and/or
berries. Any suggestions as to something which will not damage the tank - is
there such a thing? If not then any suggestions for shrubs. Will perennials
be okay? There are lots of "sticky up bits" and man hole covers out there
which I hope to disguise or hide by putting a mixed bed around the whole
affair but, as we need reasonably frequent access, I need to work round
rather than over it all. Any suggestions will be most appreciated,
especially of strongly but sweetly scented plants :).

Leave it there and let the tank crack a bit more.
It saves having it emptied

septic tank and tree
 

In article ,
Dave the exTrailer writes:
| On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 12:09:58 GMT, "H Ryder"
| wrote:
|
| We have an old but still used, brick built septic tank in our front (north
| ish facing but big enough to get sun in parts) garden. It may or may not
| have a small crack in it but the surveyor recommended the removal of the
| large weeping birch growing right next to it. Ideally we'd like to replace
| this with another more appropriate tree - smaller with blossom and/or
| berries. Any suggestions as to something which will not damage the tank - is
| there such a thing? If not then any suggestions for shrubs. Will perennials
| be okay? There are lots of "sticky up bits" and man hole covers out there
| which I hope to disguise or hide by putting a mixed bed around the whole
| affair but, as we need reasonably frequent access, I need to work round
| rather than over it all. Any suggestions will be most appreciated,
| especially of strongly but sweetly scented plants :).
|
| Leave it there and let the tank crack a bit more.
| It saves having it emptied

Well, yes. The surveyor is a clot. If the tank is suspect,
removing a large tree next to it is extremely likely to cause
it to fail. In any case, leaks from septic tanks are only an
issue if they go into a watercourse and/or you use really nasty
chemicals. If there is a reasonable distance of soil to any
watercourse, and the contents are good, honest shit, the birch
will simply mop up the leaks.

Get a second opinion - from someone who has been around a while.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

septic tank and tree
 

On 3/3/06 12:09, in article , "H
Ryder" wrote:

We have an old but still used, brick built septic tank in our front (north
ish facing but big enough to get sun in parts) garden. It may or may not
have a small crack in it but the surveyor recommended the removal of the
large weeping birch growing right next to it. Ideally we'd like to replace
this with another more appropriate tree - smaller with blossom and/or
berries. Any suggestions as to something which will not damage the tank - is
there such a thing? If not then any suggestions for shrubs. Will perennials
be okay? There are lots of "sticky up bits" and man hole covers out there
which I hope to disguise or hide by putting a mixed bed around the whole
affair but, as we need reasonably frequent access, I need to work round
rather than over it all. Any suggestions will be most appreciated,
especially of strongly but sweetly scented plants :).

The first thing, which I'm sure you will have thought of, is "is it safe for
people walking around and over it?" And the second thing is, I wonder if
you could use pots and troughs which could be moved if necessary? This
might enable you to plant up a collection of pots with plants that flower
through the year, removing one lot as the plants die off and replacing them
with the next in succession.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

septic tank and tree
 

In message , Dave the
exTrailer writes
On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 12:09:58 GMT, "H Ryder"
wrote:

We have an old but still used, brick built septic tank in our front (north
ish facing but big enough to get sun in parts) garden. It may or may not
have a small crack in it but the surveyor recommended the removal of the
large weeping birch growing right next to it. Ideally we'd like to replace
this with another more appropriate tree - smaller with blossom and/or
berries. Any suggestions as to something which will not damage the tank - is
there such a thing? If not then any suggestions for shrubs. Will perennials
be okay? There are lots of "sticky up bits" and man hole covers out there
which I hope to disguise or hide by putting a mixed bed around the whole
affair but, as we need reasonably frequent access, I need to work round
rather than over it all. Any suggestions will be most appreciated,
especially of strongly but sweetly scented plants :).

Leave it there and let the tank crack a bit more.
It saves having it emptied

I am not sure that is a good idea. After a while, if you don't have it
emptied, everything goes solid. I know from experience - when we moved
into a house in Hatfield Heath in 1980, the tank at the front of the
house (there were two) had not been emptied for over 15 years. It was
quite a job to clear it. After that, I had it done once every year or
two and it didn't smell in the slightest - even when you stuck your head
right over the open manhole. (OK - it's an odd thing to do. There are
some funny folk about:)

The tank at the back of the house was emptied regularly but tended to
overflow into the cottage at the side, which was most unpleasant. We
had some wonderful rhubarb growing right next to it.
--
June Hughes

septic tank and tree
 

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
We have an old but still used, brick built septic tank in our front (north
ish facing but big enough to get sun in parts) garden. It may or may not
have a small crack in it but the surveyor recommended the removal of the
large weeping birch growing right next to it. Ideally we'd like to replace
this with another more appropriate tree - smaller with blossom and/or
berries. Any suggestions as to something which will not damage the tank -
is
there such a thing? If not then any suggestions for shrubs. Will
perennials
be okay? There are lots of "sticky up bits" and man hole covers out there
which I hope to disguise or hide by putting a mixed bed around the whole
affair but, as we need reasonably frequent access, I need to work round
rather than over it all. Any suggestions will be most appreciated,
especially of strongly but sweetly scented plants :).

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)


It sounds like the tank is on its way out and it certainly should *not* be
leaking.
Replace it with a plastic job and keep the tree.

septic tank and tree
 

In article ,
"Rupert" writes:
|
| It sounds like the tank is on its way out and it certainly should
| *not* be leaking. Replace it with a plastic job and keep the tree.

Yes, very reasonable, and almost certainly the best strategy if
constrained to fix the problem. Now, let's ignore the official
requirements of a septic tank, and think of the scientific ones.

What damage does a moderate leak in a septic tank do, if the tank
is well separated from a watercourse and contains only sewage?
The water will be cleaned up by filtering through the soil. So
it really doesn't matter.

Note that I am not saying there is no harm, but I am unable to
think of any.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

septic tank and tree
 

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Rupert" writes:
|
| It sounds like the tank is on its way out and it certainly should
| *not* be leaking. Replace it with a plastic job and keep the tree.

Yes, very reasonable, and almost certainly the best strategy if
constrained to fix the problem. Now, let's ignore the official
requirements of a septic tank, and think of the scientific ones.

What damage does a moderate leak in a septic tank do, if the tank
is well separated from a watercourse and contains only sewage?
The water will be cleaned up by filtering through the soil. So
it really doesn't matter.

Note that I am not saying there is no harm, but I am unable to
think of any.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

For you and for me a leaking sceptic tank is not a problem but it's not the
most attractive feature of a property.
My advice was to replace the thing now with plastic as a good alternative to
chopping down the tree.
Dunno about health hazards .
Most unlike you to flaunt official rules:-)

septic tank and tree
 

In article ,
"Rupert" writes:
|
| For you and for me a leaking sceptic tank is not a problem but
| it's not the most attractive feature of a property.

If it's a minor leak into the soil, nobody will notice, except
by the luxuriant growth around it :-)

I agree that OVERFLOWS are unattractive.

| Most unlike you to flaunt official rules:-)

I think that you are confusing me with someone else! I quote
them often enough, but I don't know where you got the idea that
I follow them from.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

septic tank and tree
 

Rupert wrote:

For you and for me a leaking sceptic tank is not a problem but it's not the
most attractive feature of a property.
My advice was to replace the thing now with plastic as a good alternative to
chopping down the tree.
Dunno about health hazards .
Most unlike you to flaunt official rules:-)

flout (presumably).

--
Chris Green

septic tank and tree
 

septic tank and tree
 

My advice was to replace the thing now with plastic as a good
alternative to
chopping down the tree.

I seem to have missed a few posts somehow (probably my attempt to avoid the
"junk" from earlier in the week) so did not get teh original of this.
However we have looked into replacing tank but can not afford to for several
years. Also the current tree is past its best and, in the opinion of
everyone who has seen it, probably was not ideal for the position anyway.

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

septic tank and tree
 

wrote in message news:44086069.0@entanet...
Rupert wrote:

For you and for me a leaking sceptic tank is not a problem but it's not
the
most attractive feature of a property.
My advice was to replace the thing now with plastic as a good alternative
to
chopping down the tree.
Dunno about health hazards .
Most unlike you to flaunt official rules:-)

flout (presumably).

Chris Green

Yes sorry about that .Flaunting my lack of knowledge of English.

septic tank and tree
 

It sounds like the tank is on its way out and it certainly should *not* be
leaking.

just to clarify the tank is not leaking (we have had many people looking in
and around it), we were just told that there may be a minor problem with the
brickwork which the tree could "get into" and then cause the tank to crack
and leak. We are intending to have it replaced but not for a few years, we
just want to get rid of the tree, partly because of the potential problem
and partly just because it doesn't "do" anythign for the garden - whilst I
am a firm believer in teh fact that trees are good I also have a finite
sized garden and would rather replace this particular tree with something
smaller and more interesting! It is not a venerable old oak, just a boring,
rather sickly looking birch :)
So, can any one suggest something which is unlikely to damage our tank
please?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

septic tank and tree
 

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
It sounds like the tank is on its way out and it certainly should *not*
be
leaking.

just to clarify the tank is not leaking (we have had many people looking
in
and around it), we were just told that there may be a minor problem with
the
brickwork which the tree could "get into" and then cause the tank to crack
and leak. We are intending to have it replaced but not for a few years, we
just want to get rid of the tree, partly because of the potential problem
and partly just because it doesn't "do" anythign for the garden - whilst I
am a firm believer in teh fact that trees are good I also have a finite
sized garden and would rather replace this particular tree with something
smaller and more interesting! It is not a venerable old oak, just a
boring,
rather sickly looking birch :)
So, can any one suggest something which is unlikely to damage our tank
please?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)


Yes sorry we got carried away talking about poo.

Try this site to select exactly what you want (alkaline soil).
http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantselector/default.aspx
You can always place a root barrier in the ground which will stop
penetration of the septic tank.