{"id":18712,"date":"2022-02-08T08:46:24","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T13:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=18712"},"modified":"2022-02-08T08:49:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T13:49:36","slug":"planting-around-septic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/02\/08\/planting-around-septic\/","title":{"rendered":"What can you plant on top of and around the septic system?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong> This fall we had to replace our septic system. We&#8217;re left with a dramatically different backyard and a gardening challenge. What can I plant on top of and around this system? The sun exposure is at times in direct sun for several hours.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<p><em>Lynne M. Holland, Horticulture and Social Media Professional <\/em><\/p>\n<div>What can be planted on a septic field is a question that you should ask from different perspectives.<\/div>\n<p>First, what do you like to look at?\u00a0 Although trees and vegetables should not be planted on a septic field,\u00a0 you could have a very nice ornamental garden including shallow-rooted sub-shrubs, ornamental grasses, annuals and perennials.\u00a0 This <a href=\"https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/factsheet\/landscaping-over-septic-drain-fields\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/hgic.clemson.edu\/factsheet\/landscaping-over-septic-drain-fields\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1644412109660000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0X2JGozzkOhiyVGTtYS7K_\">article from the Clemson South Carolina Extension<\/a>\u00a0has really good information.\u00a0 They are in a different zone than we are but the principles remain the same.<\/p>\n<p>One last suggestion, if you are going plant over the tank are as well, keep it very light planting and always mark the tank cover in some way (like an ornament rock or garden gnome) so it is easy to find.\u00a0 If work has to be done in the future on the tank it is best if that area is lightly planted and mulched so the disturbance isn&#8217;t too hard to repair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: This fall we had to replace our septic system. We&#8217;re left with a dramatically different backyard and a gardening challenge. What can I plant on top of and around this system? The sun exposure is at times in direct sun for several hours. Answer: Lynne M. Holland, Horticulture and Social Media Professional What can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,202],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-maintenance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What can you plant on top of and around the septic system? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/02\/08\/planting-around-septic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What can you plant on top of and around the septic system? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: This fall we had to replace our septic system. 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