{"id":21923,"date":"2023-04-27T14:59:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T18:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=21923"},"modified":"2023-04-27T15:57:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:57:56","slug":"what-are-the-best-flowers-for-a-leach-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/04\/27\/what-are-the-best-flowers-for-a-leach-field\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the best flowers for a leach field?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>The septic tank and leach field were just installed at my new home (there is nothing growing on it at all, just dirt). The slope off the back side of the leach field is steeper than what I\u2019m comfortable mowing. I read an article here titled \u201cestablishment of vegetable gardens on septic system disposal fields\u201d by Katherine Garland. In the article she says, &#8220;The most suitable plants to grow on top of septic system disposal fields and fill extensions is grass. It is also permissible to grow flowers, but only if the soil is not rototilled and minimal watering is done.\u201d My question is, what are the best species of flowers that we can we grow safely over the leach field and side slopes? It is in full sun. We\u2019d like something that we can plant and forget it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<div><em>Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant<\/em><\/div>\n<p>For a leach field, you are looking for something that won&#8217;t have a terribly deep root structure (to avoid interfering with the components of the structure) and that are reasonably tolerant of dry conditions (since soil over leach fields tends to be poor quality). For flowers, I would consider creeping phlox (<i>Phlox stolonifera<\/i>), dianthus (<i>Dianthus<\/i>\u00a0spp), creeping thyme (<i>Thymus serpyllum<\/i>), and violets (<i>Viola<\/i>\u00a0spp). All meet those parameters and are pretty low maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>My colleague (and author of the article) Kate Garland suggests hay-scented fern (<i>Dennstaedtia punctilobula<\/i>) for the sloped portion, though she also advises that many desirable plants may spring up there as time goes along and suggests\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/nature-moments\/summer\/bouquets-and-biodiversity-from-your-lawn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/nature-moments\/summer\/bouquets-and-biodiversity-from-your-lawn\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1682699022103000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0UOZVj5kuYrHnJUUmEjz47\">this video from Bowdoin College<\/a>\u00a0to put you in that mindset.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: The septic tank and leach field were just installed at my new home (there is nothing growing on it at all, just dirt). The slope off the back side of the leach field is steeper than what I\u2019m comfortable mowing. I read an article here titled \u201cestablishment of vegetable gardens on septic system disposal [&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-21923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-maintenance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What are the best flowers for a leach field? - 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\/2023\/04\/27\/what-are-the-best-flowers-for-a-leach-field\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What are the best flowers for a leach field? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: The septic tank and leach field were just installed at my new home (there is nothing growing on it at all, just dirt). 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