Garden - digging round a septic tank.
 

I have a septic tank . Its a brick built two chamber type built about
1958. Currently the area around it ( drainage field?) is covered in grass.
I am tired of grass and fed up of mowing all the time. Its a good long
stretch of ground to the right of the house and runs for a good 200 feet
before hitting the back section which is overgrown and I cant seem to do
anything with at all. ( was greenhouses but they were dismantled long ago)
and would be ideal as a garden area to be honest. Is there any reason I
cannot take off the grass and dig this area up to put in a garden? Would I
disturb the drains or something? The other side of the garden has a lot of
trees and bushes in and a couple of greenhouses and a summerhouse so its not
possible to put in more garden there without taking down these items. The
back is overgrown with a hedge and there isn't much I can do with that at
all except gravel it and keep it tidy.

None at all, all pipes etc should be well below digging depth, if you decide to double dig a bit of caution would be prudent.

Garden - digging round a septic tank.
 

In article ,
says...
I have a septic tank . Its a brick built two chamber type built about
1958. Currently the area around it ( drainage field?) is covered in grass.
I am tired of grass and fed up of mowing all the time. Its a good long
stretch of ground to the right of the house and runs for a good 200 feet
before hitting the back section which is overgrown and I cant seem to do
anything with at all. ( was greenhouses but they were dismantled long ago)
and would be ideal as a garden area to be honest. Is there any reason I
cannot take off the grass and dig this area up to put in a garden? Would I
disturb the drains or something? The other side of the garden has a lot of
trees and bushes in and a couple of greenhouses and a summerhouse so its not
possible to put in more garden there without taking down these items. The
back is overgrown with a hedge and there isn't much I can do with that at
all except gravel it and keep it tidy.


It may be possible to find the exact location of the drains by having the
ground surveyed but the pipes are normally more than 18" down so shallow
cultivation wont harm them. avoid planting trees or large shrubs and I
can see no particular problems, after all most of us with septic tanks do
not run to the luxuary of a seperated drainage zone just the regular
garden :~)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Garden - digging round a septic tank.
 

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...
In article ,
says...
I have a septic tank . Its a brick built two chamber type built about
1958. Currently the area around it ( drainage field?) is covered in
grass.
I am tired of grass and fed up of mowing all the time. Its a good long
stretch of ground to the right of the house and runs for a good 200 feet
before hitting the back section which is overgrown and I cant seem to do
anything with at all. ( was greenhouses but they were dismantled long
ago)
and would be ideal as a garden area to be honest. Is there any reason I
cannot take off the grass and dig this area up to put in a garden? Would
I
disturb the drains or something? The other side of the garden has a lot
of
trees and bushes in and a couple of greenhouses and a summerhouse so its
not
possible to put in more garden there without taking down these items.
The
back is overgrown with a hedge and there isn't much I can do with that
at
all except gravel it and keep it tidy.


It may be possible to find the exact location of the drains by having the
ground surveyed but the pipes are normally more than 18" down so shallow
cultivation wont harm them. avoid planting trees or large shrubs and I
can see no particular problems, after all most of us with septic tanks do
not run to the luxuary of a seperated drainage zone just the regular
garden :~)
--

I lived in a house with a septic tank of the type you describe for many
years. Look into the second chamber and you will see the outlet pipe. You
don't even need to see the pipe as the liquid level with also indicate how
deep the pipe is buried. Normal cultivation will not take you anywhere near
it normally. I had a patch of fruit bushes quite close to my tank above the
drainage field. They grew well and produced massive crops of currents and
gooseberries.

Whenever I get the ever inflating water bills I wish we were on septic tanks
still.

Mike

i think septic cleaning is very important, check out for more information
www.septic-waste-treatment.com