Garden over the Leech Field?

[BigDave]

I not sure if this is strange question or not. Is it safe and/or wise to put a garden over the leech field of our septic system? Should there be county regulations that I need to research?

A little bit of background: It is the only flat land of any decent size on our property, & the misses said I could buy a 3pt tiller which I might also use to turn over the entire yard to rid it of the rocks and get some decent grass growing, but it just doesn't seem right to me.

Any thoughts out there?

 

[MossRoad]

Might depend on how deep the leach field is burried, however, I'd be leary of it. Flowers, yes... vegetables, I don't know. The grass over my leach field is no different than the grass in the rest of the yard. No greener or thicker, so I think all of my water drains down, away from the surface. The guy that had the house before us always planted onions over the septic tank. He said they grew best there because of the fertilizer. However, the septic tanks are sealed. Nothing can come out of them. It all goes to the the leach field. I think the veggies grew better over the septic tank because the soil was dug up three feet down every two years to empty the tanks. That provided nice, lose soil for them to grown in and that's it.

This will be an interesting thread to watch.

 

[soarkrebel]

I don't know about a garden over my leach field , my cannas(sp?) do very well though.
mine has gravel in the bed i guess you could plant in the gravel.

Now my wife wanted a garden near the house and living on a hill i had to terrace it.
i actually am just finishing it. i have to have dirt brought in this week.
i have a spot away from the house about 200 yards and she says thats to far. thats my garden.

back to leach fields my buddy the plumber claims the water that comes out is good enough to drink . i don't think i will try. though.

 

[jyoutz]

Big Dave. I don't think that I would do it, but not for the reason you're thinking. I'm sure that the liquid from the leach lines drain down far below the roots of most vegetables, BUT I wouldn't want to compact the leach field deep down by repeated passes with a tractor. That will lead to future leach field problems, particularly if you have clay or clay loam soil. (having said this, I just realized that I always mow the grass over my leach field so maybe this isn't such a problem after all)

 

[motelman]

I would not plant a garden over a septic system. Depending on the leech field (drain field) it could be installed shallow enough that you could actually till into the working system and cause it to fail. That would make for a very expensive tomato. Loosening the ground above the system could cause sediment, or the loosened particles of dirt to start working their way down to start plugging it up. As far as driving over the system, you are basically driving on a crust, say 12" thick.
If you till the ground 8" then the crust would be 4". You could think of it as driving on a frozen lake. Would you rather drive on 12" of ice or 4" of ice covered by 8" of snow?

<font color="red"> my buddy the plumber claims the water that comes out is good enough to drink </font>
Has he ever dug into a drain field? Open the clean-out cover on the drain field and smell, my stomach has never been strong enough to consider drinking that.

 

[chrisjbell]

I'd be concerned about running a tiller over the leech field. Those rocks you'll hit are an integral part of the drainage system (you should have pipe surrounded by rocks and the rocks should come up pretty close to the surface - and getting rid of them isn't good).

I don't think I'd worry about the water quality. I check my inspection hatches in the drain field every year or so (I like to disturb the black widows that live in the caps /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif). I don't think I'd put my hand down there, but the smell isn't too bad. Not a whole lot worse than my compost heap, so the water must be fairly clean.

I wouldn't drink it, either, though /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. But it would probably be great fertilizer...

 

[soarkrebel]

motelman i didnt say he was a sane friend.

i have watched him work on septic lines before . he's crazy no gloves just gets in there . he says it washes off! nope not me !
the one thing he hates in plumbing is grease traps. i have to agree.

i know on my leach field , which is on the side of a hill, the grass grows three times as fast the rest of the my property. i cleaned out the old dead cannas about two weeks ago and the new ones are just growing like crazy now. from bulbs!

whats worse chicken litter or cow manure or human waste as fertilizer?
I know in korea they used human waste but not american waste. why? they said our food is to rich and burns the crop.
thats what i was told!

 

[engineer]

I agree with MossRoad, planting lawn and flowers (no woody vegetation) over your leach typically will not cause any real issues. Vegetables you really want to think about it. Like it or not we humans are filthy animals. Nitrates, phosphates, coliform and heavy metals (trace amounts) all can be found in human waste. Nitrogen and phosphorus most vegetation loves it in moderate amounts. In the soil beneath and surrounding your leaching system, over time the nitrates, phosphates and heavy metals will build up. Your body thought it was a good idea to get rid of this stuff, do you really want it back?

Additionally, the good little bugs that we all find in our leaching system love oxygen. Anything that can disrupt the free exchange of oxygen through the ground surface and the air (i.e.: compaction of soil over system) will deminish the ability of all the good little bugs to treat the wastewater.

Just my thoughts,
engineer

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I can't help but be reminded of a book by Erma Bombeck entitled, appropriately enough, 'The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank.' /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[boustany]

I wouldn't do it. Not so much because of what comes out of a septic system, but you would be likely to damage the system: its not that far down, and you could likely squish the pipes just by driving over them with the tractor (unless, you are talking about an itty bitty lawn tractor).

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I would also not have a garden over the leech field. We have a neighbor a few years ago who was putting in a garden and ended up "hooking into" the leech field...the smell is something I will not soon forget... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Egon]

There are little buggies transfered to vegetable crops from leach fields. You would have to boil all vegetables. No fresh greens.

It will also interfer with proper leach field operation.

Just may be against existing regulations.

Not a prefered option or even an option.

Egon

 

[BigDave]

Thanks, guys I'm thinking it isn't right either, but I do have some comments that may answer some of your questions.

The drainage pipes are at least 2ft down, maybe even 3 ft. I think there is about 18" of rock, and I would guess there is about 1 ft of soil.

The grass doesn't grow any faster over the leech field.

I drive my ~3500lb of tractor over it at least weekly. Maybe this is a bad thing.

I haven't seen any depressions, so I think the ground is stable.

The builder told me it would be a good spot for a garden. He just cautioned me against planting trees.


So, if I want to make my wife's offer of a 3pt tiller for a garden to happen, I have to be willing cut down some trees, grind some stumps & move some earth...hey that may not be a bad deal after all. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[riptides]

Over time, everything gets depressed.

I'd leave the veggies off the lines if you know where they are... why chance a 3-6k system for a 1-100 dollar eats.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Taylortractornut]

In alabama they have a trrivle clay that wont leach out goos a freind of mine had me digg a few leach lines where her green house was and in the yard and gravel them then planted sonme thisty hngy exaotic plants over them looks pretty and leaches the ground dry. But you cant eat any vegetable grown from one.

 

[djradz]

Dave, my field too is in the best part of my yard for a gardern, and so since 1985, that's were the vegatable garden is. My pipes and gravel are down far enough that even when I plowed with the 2-bottom, I didn't hit anything. As I recall, we put something like 15" to 18" over the last bit of gravel. One benefit is the garden requires less water through the summer. I've not noticed any other advantage or disadvantage. Only downside of the location is my case is that the contractor didn't do exactly as I had directed him in stripping all the top soil off the field area before he put it in (so we could put it back when he was done) so the soil on top is part top soil and part sub soil. If you're already driving your big rig over it (not that I recommend it) you should be fine. I've used the rototiller also, but most years it's the 2-bottom and my 6-foot disk behind my TC40D. I'm plowing down about 10"-12".

 

[BigDave]

Your field sounds similar to mine, but I do have some surface rocks/shale, so the builder definitely used sub-soil. Unfortunately, my whole yard is like that.

What is the 2-bottom?

 

[djradz]

2-bottom plow. You know - makes two furrows with every pass. Turns over two rows of soil vs a single-bottom plow which flips only one, so the plowing goes twice as fast. Flips about a 12" wide path, 10-12" deep with every pass.

 

[BigDave]

/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

No,at least I wouldn't,its that thing about food and human bleep that would concern me.Of course I may be a little to finicky.RICHARD GAUTHIER