Sarah Soleil

I have a big, flat yard that is mostly my septic field. I would love to grow something other than grass over it but don't want to mess up the percolation. What flowers can I plant? Blooming perrenials preferred, but something that will survive a PNW (8b) winter with a bit of snow and summers brushing just under 100, 8-10 hours of full sun and growing as I clear back the encroaching forest.

Dorothy Pohorelow wrote:Many cities now have their own composting facilities if you live near one of those it can be a less expensive source of soil for beds.  Ours sales a 50/50 blend of compost and top soil at a price I could almost afford.  We also got a pickup bed full of finished compost from there for something like $14...

I-ve not heard of one here but I'll ask around.

Now I just sit in the yard and stare until their optimal placement is revealed to me.

Timothy Norton wrote:You will want a layer of 'finished' soil to grow in, but bulk can be made up of other things such as non-woody yard waste or making it into a hugel.

A word of caution, you do not want to mix in wood chips in your growing layer. They can tie up nitrogen and lead to a growing headache.

So wood chips on the bottom and, in my case, small branches are okay, but just not where leaves and flowers can see and touch it?

Excellent help here 💜

My assumption was that for raised beds, compost needed to be finished. I have a fair amount of half-done that will probably be great. It's full of worms so even better once I get the cardboard down.  
I have a lotnof property that I can take mulch from but for some reason I wasn't imagining it as soil... again with the idea that it needs to be finished.

I'm pecking away, trying to be the right amount of ambitious about my half forested property and all the work that coaxing a "traditional" garden from it entails.  

Right now I have a 15(??) foot long bed with onions and garlic and just built two 3x2.5 and two 5x2.5  from clearance lumber. A paltry number of square feet compared to the 2 acres of property I have but I am *fairly* confident that I can keep the deer away from 40 square feet... not so much the rest YET.

Ideally, I'd be filling raised beds with my own compost. But here we are.
What are more affordable options than buying soil at $7 per cubic foot from the garden shop?

Eric Hanson wrote:Sarah,

I don't suppose you know how deep those septic lines are do you?  For some reason I am thinking that mine were buried 4' deep.  It looks like yours may have been laid on flat ground and then covered with several feet of fill.  Either way, my suspicion is that you would be fine planting in tall raised beds sitting on top of that mound.  Now I don't know that for certain, but it seems unlikely to me that any pathogens are going to work their way that far up or that the roots will work their way that far down.  

Maybe this is a case where you try planting something like a potato or some other deep-rooted root crop, dig it up and have it specifically tested just to be certain.

Eric

The yard is terraced so the first photo is the actual yard and the hill is one of the steps. There is one more down to the street and another.... 2?? up to the left, into the forest but  those are for later.  

Potatoes are exactly what I wanted to plant at the edge of the yard. The pipes could be anywhere from 18' to several feet so 😬

Christopher Weeks wrote:I put raised beds for annual vegetables right across our leach field three years ago and haven't observed any issues yet. But it probably depends a lot on soil conditions, waste load, etc.

I'm positive that the next year, maybe even 2 won't be a problem for bacteria, I just don't want to bother with setting up boxes and have to move them.

For sure no trees. I've read that you can plan flowers over a drain field directly, just not edible plants. Trees would be okay on terms of bacteria, but the roots would be the problem.  
Would raised vegetables on the edges be safe?

I moved into an old house and the septic system was put in before permits/maps were required. The leach field is somewhat of a mystery, which hinders my gardening.
I can tell where the pipes are *pretty much*  based on vitality of grass through the summer so I know not to dig around there. It was emptied just before we moved in, so a year ago and the pump upgraded. I'm not *too* worried about it malfunctioning, but the potential for bacteria gives me an ick.

If I put raised beds all around the edges, will it be safe? To the right is a steep bank down that I'd like to try to terrace, I think that is far enough away by any standard to be safe.

For context... my actual yard. Junky area is to the right. When it's all tidy and mowed, it very much feels like a park.