Lawn maintenance, leech-field questions

[kride123]

Hi all - Just looking fro some neighborly advice regrading our lawn.

It's awfully pitted and rolling. It's our leech-field, too. We've been in the house 10 years, house is 20 y.o., and it seems erosion is taking it's toll. The part of the lawn where the septic tank sits is now an inch or two higher than the rest of the lawn. It's getting to where we don't want the girls walking on it b/c they could too easily fall, get hurt, etc.

So - what to do to fix it?

We have lots of shade and clay-filled soil. We've heard white clover is good and low maintenance - anyone have any experience with that??

Do we need to bring dirt in to even things out? Or can we roto-till? Can we even roto-till if it's the leech-field?

We don't really care that it looks like a suburban, manicured lawn. What we want is some bit of level, low-maintenance, easy-grow is partial shade/clay.

Any ideas???

[Drew]

Roto-Tilling over the leech-field depends on how much soil cover was placed when the built it. Gently hand-dig a few small holes to see how much dirt is over the gravel, if it's thin, do not roto-till, you don't want to disturb the gravel base.

How big a area are we talking about?
If you have uneven areas, get a load of soil delivered if it's a big job, and fill in the low spots.

If you roto-till, it would be a good idea to add some sand and soil to the clay to improve drainage. It's a big job to pull all the clods of old grass and re-level.

If you go through all the back-breaking work of tilling and leveling your yard, don't skimp on seed quality. Scotts makes very good seed, and has lots of tips on their site. www.scotts.com
Pick a seed depending on your application, like Dense Shade, Sun 'n Shade etc.

[kride123]

Thanks, Drew. How big an area? Hmmmm - I'm guessing about 1/4 acre? Not huge, but not real small.

I've never roto-tilled - how thin is a "thin" layer? 1 inch? 5 inches? 10 inches?

[Uncle Alpo]

Originally Posted by Drew

If you have uneven areas, get a load of soil delivered if it's a big job, and fill in the low spots.

I'd be concerned about the cause of the erosion; unless that's resolved it could happen again.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by kride123

Thanks, Drew. How big an area? Hmmmm - I'm guessing about 1/4 acre? Not huge, but not real small.

I've never roto-tilled - how thin is a "thin" layer? 1 inch? 5 inches? 10 inches?

I'd say if there's less than a foot of soil over the leaching field, I would not roto-till, and do the area by hand. A foot or more, go down only about 4". Roto-tillers are adjustable for depth. For a 1/4 acre, I would rent a decent sized one.

If the grass on the leech field isn't too bad, you can top-dress with a inch or two of topsoil througly raking in the soil so most of the old grass peeks through, filling in low spots, then overseed with a drop spreader set to the right setting.

The other bad areas should be tilled up and properly reseeded. Some starter fertilizer isn't a bad idea at seed-time either. Then, once you grassy play area is established, regular spring and fall fertilizing should be a big help, even if it's not a "fancy" lawn.

[kride123]

Originally Posted by Uncle Alpo

I'd be concerned about the cause of the erosion; unless that's resolved it could happen again.

I'm thinking the erosion is mainly due to the fact that it's an above0ground septic rather than dug out? Does that make sense?

[motoed]

k
I can't help. But, down here we'd bring in 2 truck loads of chicken crap and then when it rained move into a hotel.

[Uncle Alpo]

Originally Posted by kride123

I'm thinking the erosion is mainly due to the fact that it's an above0ground septic rather than dug out? Does that make sense?

So, the tank is above ground, but the leech field is below ground. The ground around the leech field is sinking, but no other areas are sinking? The septic system is working fine? The tank's outlet is on the bottom and the lines are perforated; I'm having a hard time visualizing the problem. Do the pits in the yard expose anything? Have you tried digging into where it rolls to see what's beneath there? It almost sounds like the soil on top of the field is washing away - is there any grass there, or is it dirt?

[PFG]

Are you saying the lateral field is showing? Like a long strips of raised mounds, presumably on top of each lateral for the septic system?

This is common around here, unless someone fixed it after the install. The septic company dug trenches and placed either plastic pipe or an Infiltrator to distribute the output of the tank. When they got done, they put the dirt back on top of the trenches, and since there is something in the ground that wasn't before, there is excess dirt. Most people wait a year to let it settle in completely, then regrade it. If your laterals are deep enough, you could take the dirt off the top. If they are shallow, you will need to raise the rest of the lawn to the height of the mounds. Avoid driving anything over the mounds heavier than a lawn tractor. It will be mostly hand work, and depending on the lentgh and number of laterals, a lot of it.
Good luck!

[kride123]

Originally Posted by Uncle Alpo

So, the tank is above ground, but the leech field is below ground. The ground around the leech field is sinking, but no other areas are sinking? The septic system is working fine? The tank's outlet is on the bottom and the lines are perforated; I'm having a hard time visualizing the problem. Do the pits in the yard expose anything? Have you tried digging into where it rolls to see what's beneath there? It almost sounds like the soil on top of the field is washing away - is there any grass there, or is it dirt?

Well, by "above ground," I mean they brought in fill to make the (entire?) leech field. That's how they call them up here - so the tank is not literally sticking out of the groun (how ugly! ), but, yes, the tank is higher (by a couple inches) than the rest of the ground.

Spetic works fine.

The pits and rolling are at this point cosmetic, and make for a rough time for little kids to play. We haven't dug anything yet.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the top soil washing away. There is grass on it now, but it's not a great lawn by any stretch.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by kride123

Well, by "above ground," I mean they brought in fill to make the (entire?) leech field. That's how they call them up here - so the tank is not literally sticking out of the groun (how ugly! ), but, yes, the tank is higher (by a couple inches) than the rest of the ground.

Spetic works fine.

The pits and rolling are at this point cosmetic, and make for a rough time for little kids to play. We haven't dug anything yet.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the top soil washing away. There is grass on it now, but it's not a great lawn by any stretch.

Many times, folks bury the concrete seperator tank under a foot of soil. just make sure you mark/locate where the cleanout covers are, so every few years when it's pump-out time, they're easy to find.

Can a dump truck back into your yard? If the driver can dump the load in a few smaller piles over the worst areas, you'll have a lot less work hauling dirt.

[kride123]

Originally Posted by Drew

Many times, folks bury the concrete seperator tank under a foot of soil. just make sure you mark/locate where the cleanout covers are, so every few years when it's pump-out time, they're easy to find.

Can a dump truck back into your yard? If the driver can dump the load in a few smaller piles over the worst areas, you'll have a lot less work hauling dirt.

If we started with a foot (20 years ago, before we owned the house), there's only an inch or two there now. Yikes.

We can get the dirt dumped onto only one or two places in the yard. *sigh* Dirt-hauling for us, it seems.....

[rkt jky]

welcome to R KIN SAW. we difrnt he ar.

our septic empties into a ditch the circles the perimeter of the property.
"ooh that smell. can you smell that smell? the smell of poop surrounds you."
woofin tago fishn