Hi everyone,

I would be glad if people could advise me how to safely plant a soakaway
area. I have an area of lawn that has a soakaway (from our septic tank)
passing beneath it. Hence, the grass grows extremely richly and has to
be constantly mown . . . which is a bore, and a bit difficult as the
area is on something of an incline.

I understand that if I planted this area with shrubs and bushes that are
fibrous and deep-rooted, then they could obstruct the soakaway process.
Highly fibrous roots would head for the soakaway pipes and conduits and,
over time, block them. (I discovered with horror at another property
many years ago that ivy roots had penetrated 18 inches up rainwater
pipes that discharged into the earth, so that the pipes were completely
blocked!)

Ornamental grasses are one solution, but the area would look better
"bushed". The look I'ld like to achieve would be similar to a dense 30
feet by 40 feet area of rhododendrons. (Whether the roots of
rhododendrons would be OK, I don't know!) But evergreen bushes of say 5
to 6 feet high would look best.

Any suitable suggestions?

Thanks.

Eddy.

"Eddy" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone,

I would be glad if people could advise me how to safely plant a soakaway
area. I have an area of lawn that has a soakaway (from our septic tank)
passing beneath it. Hence, the grass grows extremely richly and has to
be constantly mown . . . which is a bore, and a bit difficult as the
area is on something of an incline.

I understand that if I planted this area with shrubs and bushes that are
fibrous and deep-rooted, then they could obstruct the soakaway process.
Highly fibrous roots would head for the soakaway pipes and conduits and,
over time, block them. (I discovered with horror at another property
many years ago that ivy roots had penetrated 18 inches up rainwater
pipes that discharged into the earth, so that the pipes were completely
blocked!)

Ornamental grasses are one solution, but the area would look better
"bushed". The look I'ld like to achieve would be similar to a dense 30
feet by 40 feet area of rhododendrons. (Whether the roots of
rhododendrons would be OK, I don't know!) But evergreen bushes of say 5
to 6 feet high would look best.

Any suitable suggestions?

Plant rhubarb.

:-))

Steve

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:37:25 GMT, Eddy
wrote:

Hi everyone,

I would be glad if people could advise me how to safely plant a soakaway
area. I have an area of lawn that has a soakaway (from our septic tank)
passing beneath it. Hence, the grass grows extremely richly and has to
be constantly mown . . . which is a bore, and a bit difficult as the
area is on something of an incline.

I understand that if I planted this area with shrubs and bushes that are
fibrous and deep-rooted, then they could obstruct the soakaway process.
Highly fibrous roots would head for the soakaway pipes and conduits and,
over time, block them. (I discovered with horror at another property
many years ago that ivy roots had penetrated 18 inches up rainwater
pipes that discharged into the earth, so that the pipes were completely
blocked!)

Ornamental grasses are one solution, but the area would look better
"bushed". The look I'ld like to achieve would be similar to a dense 30
feet by 40 feet area of rhododendrons. (Whether the roots of
rhododendrons would be OK, I don't know!) But evergreen bushes of say 5
to 6 feet high would look best.

Any suitable suggestions?

Thanks.

Eddy.

I would plant it with something tasty that would grow well on this
richly fertilised plot. How about some delicious rhubarb?

Thanks, Fuschia & Shazzbat. Rhubarb! Hee, hee, hee. I would never
have imagined it. A surfeit of rhubarb to give me endless bellyache! I
had ulcers some years ago and rhubarb, which is very acidic, is one of
the things I have to avoid! Mind you, if rhubarb was resilient and
evergreen, i.e. it looked good all through the year, it would fit the
bill!

Eddy.

On 9/1/08 10:26, in article ,
"Eddy" wrote:

Thanks, Fuschia & Shazzbat. Rhubarb! Hee, hee, hee. I would never
have imagined it. A surfeit of rhubarb to give me endless bellyache! I
had ulcers some years ago and rhubarb, which is very acidic, is one of
the things I have to avoid! Mind you, if rhubarb was resilient and
evergreen, i.e. it looked good all through the year, it would fit the
bill!

Eddy.


Try the giant rhubarb, the inedible one! Gunnera manicata
http://tinyurl.com/2rd8mr
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Sacha wrote:
Try the giant rhubarb, the inedible one! Gunnera manicata
http://tinyurl.com/2rd8mr

Some Gunnera Manicatas would look great, Sacha. But how deeply do the
roots grow? They're not evergreen, are they? They'ld be something that
the frost would turn to "cabbage", wouldn't they?

I've been mooching about in Google this morning, and until you suggested
Gunneras it seemed that ornamental grass is the only safe option. Stuff
I've been reading this morning has made me start to worry about the
roots of three large ornamental cherries on the edge of my
leach--plain/soakaway.

Eddy.

On 9 Jan, 12:22, Eddy wrote:
I've been mooching about in Google this morning, and until you suggested
Gunneras it seemed that ornamental grass is the only safe option. *Stuff
I've been reading this morning has made me start to worry about the
roots of three large ornamental cherries on the edge of my
leach--plain/soakaway.

If they are within 6 metres from your soakaway you are safe - that is
the maximum planting guidance for council planting near soakaway. I'm
glad you don't take the rhodos ideas. Perhaps dwarf varieties and
azaleas could be an option, but the grasses would be so much nicer to
the eye, for the lightness they provide, elegance and the wildlife
they'd attract with their long lasting seed heads (not to mention the
low maintenance). The choices are endless, from the deschampsia,
sporobolus, corynephorus, myscanthus and the actae (imagine that one
covered of frost in winter ...) etc... to reed grass, the red one and
you could mix in echinaceas or monardas for some colour too. These
will self seeds and will replace their parents. Nice clumps will
eventually forms, like with the panicum and molinia - this could give
you the 'bulk' of planting you are after. A curvaceous bed of these in
your lawn would be lovely. HTH

In article ,
says...
Sacha wrote:
Try the giant rhubarb, the inedible one! Gunnera manicata
http://tinyurl.com/2rd8mr

Some Gunnera Manicatas would look great, Sacha. But how deeply do the
roots grow? They're not evergreen, are they? They'ld be something that
the frost would turn to "cabbage", wouldn't they?

I've been mooching about in Google this morning, and until you suggested
Gunneras it seemed that ornamental grass is the only safe option. Stuff
I've been reading this morning has made me start to worry about the
roots of three large ornamental cherries on the edge of my
leach--plain/soakaway.

Eddy.



where are you? tree ferns would look rather fine!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

wrote:
grasses would be so much nicer to
the eye, for the lightness they provide, elegance and the wildlife
they'd attract with their long lasting seed heads (not to mention the
low maintenance). The choices are endless, from the deschampsia,
sporobolus, corynephorus, myscanthus and the actae (imagine that one
covered of frost in winter ...) etc... to reed grass, the red one and
you could mix in echinaceas or monardas for some colour too. These
will self seeds and will replace their parents. Nice clumps will
eventually forms, like with the panicum and molinia - this could give
you the 'bulk' of planting you are after.

Thanks, Helene, for a good list of natural plants if we decide going
down the wildflower "lawn" is the best option!

Eddy.

Charlie Pridham wrote:
where are you? tree ferns would look rather fine!

Hmm. Tree ferns would fit in well. The sloping soakaway/lawn separates
the house from the lane below, and the house is quite high above both,
so to look down on tree-ferns from all the windows of the house would be
good, and they'ld hide the lane and occasional traffic.

We're in South West Shropshire, rather similar to Wales in climate but
not quite so wet. Behind this house are a good deal of wild ferns. The
front, however, is completely south-facing, so would tree-ferns manage
in summer? Also, are you saying that tree-ferns don't have deep roots?
(Would be good if they don't.)

Eddy.

On 9/1/08 12:22, in article ,
"Eddy" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
Try the giant rhubarb, the inedible one! Gunnera manicata
http://tinyurl.com/2rd8mr

Some Gunnera Manicatas would look great, Sacha. But how deeply do the
roots grow? They're not evergreen, are they? They'ld be something that
the frost would turn to "cabbage", wouldn't they?

I've been mooching about in Google this morning, and until you suggested
Gunneras it seemed that ornamental grass is the only safe option. Stuff
I've been reading this morning has made me start to worry about the
roots of three large ornamental cherries on the edge of my
leach--plain/soakaway.

Eddy.


Very unlikely, we think. My stepson had to dig out a Gunnera this year
because a drain had become blocked and then having removed the Gunnera, he
discovered that the true culprit was a tree that was many yards away. The
Gunnera was quite innocent. They're very dramatic plants and real talking
points. No, they're not ever-green but in cold areas people just bend the
fading branches over the crown to give winter protection, or put straw over
them.
Charlie's idea of tree ferns is excellent, IMO. They look good in groups or
singly but are quite expensive and grow exceedingly slowly, so you would
need to get the biggest you can afford and from a reputable source. In
summer water them from the top so that the fronds are kept moist. Perhaps
you could plant the truly beautiful shuttlecock ferns there, too. Matteuccia
struthiopteris is its proper name and I look forward to seeing ours emerge
every winter. Blechnum spicant is another fern and I think that's
evergreen.
I don't dislike grasses but personally, I think they're a bit 'overdone'
these days and are just beginning to lose popularity a little. They're used
in a lot of municipal planting, so I wonder if there is too much of that
association in the public's mind, perhaps.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 9 Jan, 13:33, Sacha wrote:
I don't dislike grasses but personally, I think they're a bit 'overdone'
these days and are just beginning to lose popularity a little. *They're used
in a lot of municipal planting, so I wonder if there is too much of that
association in the public's mind, perhaps.

The popularity is for its biodiversity, wildlife friendly and
ecologically sound (cleaning) benefits. If these plants are
commercially viable, then I'm for one very glad people make money out
of them for precisely the benefits they bring as opposed for a
'fashionable' reason. The 'municipal planting' effect as a long way to
go before achieving the aesthetics one dream off like those of Piet
Oudolf, for a start there's quite a job in getting rid of the
thousands of dusty aucubas, rhodos and privets and the millions of
petunias one usually find in our municipalities. Sadly.

In article ,
says...
Charlie Pridham wrote:
where are you? tree ferns would look rather fine!

Hmm. Tree ferns would fit in well. The sloping soakaway/lawn separates
the house from the lane below, and the house is quite high above both,
so to look down on tree-ferns from all the windows of the house would be
good, and they'ld hide the lane and occasional traffic.

We're in South West Shropshire, rather similar to Wales in climate but
not quite so wet. Behind this house are a good deal of wild ferns. The
front, however, is completely south-facing, so would tree-ferns manage
in summer? Also, are you saying that tree-ferns don't have deep roots?
(Would be good if they don't.)

Eddy.


They form a mat of roots near the surface, but sadly I suspect you are
too cold for an open position planting, there may however be other
evergreen ferns large enough to suit but its not my area.
Also some bamboos would love the constant moisture, not all varieties
would suit so seek advice, mine only go down about 6 inches, they are
very much surface rooting, evergreen and the phyllostchys sorts have
wonderful stem colours (my favourite is P. vivax aureocaulis, 20' of
golden stems)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 13:21:28 +0000, Eddy wrote
(in article ):

Charlie Pridham wrote:
where are you? tree ferns would look rather fine!

Hmm. Tree ferns would fit in well. The sloping soakaway/lawn separates
the house from the lane below, and the house is quite high above both,
so to look down on tree-ferns from all the windows of the house would be
good, and they'ld hide the lane and occasional traffic.

We're in South West Shropshire, rather similar to Wales in climate but
not quite so wet. Behind this house are a good deal of wild ferns. The
front, however, is completely south-facing, so would tree-ferns manage
in summer? Also, are you saying that tree-ferns don't have deep roots?
(Would be good if they don't.)

waves from near Ludlow :-)

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
http://www.freerice.com/index.php
Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple word game

Thanks, Sacha. Ferns do well in this area, the hedgerows harbour them,
and there are several big clumps on the border of my soakaway-lawn
already. I know they erupt from big fleshy "pods" - with delicate roots
on the underside of these. I wonder if these hair-like roots WOULD
penetrate a few feet if they sensed the moisture beneath?

I like the idea of several groups of tree-ferns, in twos and threes of
different heights, with lots of more ordinary ferns inbetween and
scattered around. This would look less "unkempt" than a wildflower
lawn - which, anyway, I believe needs to be mown and maintained if the
wildflowers are not to be overtaken by the grasses. I had a go at
wildflower garden at another property, in West Wales, a couple of years
ago, and the first year it was beautiful. Despite cutting it as advised
in autumn, the next year it was predominantly buttercupt - magnificently
buttercups for several weeks in fact, and by the third year only one or
two individual wildflower plants had managed to stand the competition
from ranunculus and grasses!

Eddy.