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septic tank drainage field into hugukulture mound or garden??

 
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I'm new to this site and as we speak I'm in my high school multicultural lit class bored out of my mind. But luckily i have my phone and i can look up cool stuff.

I don't know if I'm posting this in the right section but i would like to know somebody's thoughts. My parents recently purchased a lake property with a septic tank to drainage field system. i would like to know if it were possible to create a large hugukulture mound with the drainage field inside of it or under it. i think this might combat the carbon to nitrogen ratio and promote the break down of the wood and organic matter. i would love to know your thoughts and any downsides you can think of.

Im going to live on this property during college my mom is super into gardening and my dad really likes the end of the world survival venue so im pretty sure i could talk them into it.
 
steward
Posts: 2719
Location: Maine (zone 5)
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Septic systems are designed to be near the soil surface so that bacteria can aid in the breakdown process. Burying that under a Hugel bed would be bad news. You'd end up with an anaerobic stink pit. If you ever needed to do work on the septic, you'd have to dig up the garden too.
 
pollinator
Posts: 4437
Location: North Central Michigan
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see mine in my blog below

the drainfield was about 60 x 60 feet..and it was raised 4'..we had it backfilled with good soil from our property and i planted the backfill around the drainfield, leaving a lovely lawn circle on top of the drainfield..at the far end I put in an arbor and planted grapes and roses up the arbor and then beyond I put down a path to the east and steps to the North..also nearer the house are two paths going down on either side.

directly on the drainfield itself is only lawn, it took a long time to establish ..it has alot of wildlings in it like dandelion, clover, yarrow, etc..as well.

all around it is garden..it is mostly perennial flowering plants like iris, and daylilly, herbs and other perennials (daisy, coneflower, phlox, gaillardia, and on and on) then as you go DOWN from the actual drainfield into the fll there are lilacs, honeysuckle bushes, cherry trees, smoke bushes, roses, etc..

when you get down to the level at the bottom of the slope there is a lawn again..so access is from the lawn on all sides..or paths..it makes a lovely garden..i have a lot of photos of it on the blog below
 
Posts: 129
Location: Western North Carolina
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We covered up a drain field with wood chips. Not exactly a hugleculture but the wood chips did help. See photo below. The drain field is actually not the wood chip path. It is the green grassy area to the left in the photo. The septic water had come to the top and we covered it up with a lot of wood chips. In the photo the area has been weed whacked but usually there are lilies, blackeye susans and echinecea flowers all mixed in there.



 
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