I wish I had a pic of my drain field handy. I’ve got six completely brown strips of dead grass where my drain tiles are located. The reasons for this are 1) an extremely thin layer of poor top soil covering the drain rock and 2) a 12″ deep trench filled with said drain rock surrounding the PVC drain tile. Even though the tile drips moisture into the rock, it is unevenly distributed and gravity takes it downward. There’s no hope for the ultra-thin layer of topsoil to gather or retain water for the grass.
This is a huge annoyance for me. The system design was prescribed by my health department without any explanation as to why the topsoil layer had to be so thin. I always thought the drain field was where the grass was the greenest. Not so.
Scott.
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...........and don't forget.
That grass is not dead, it is dormant.
Eric
It's Never Too Late To Become
What You Might Have Been
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Be happy - if it were green over the trenches it would mean your field isn't perc-ing right...needing a new field!
ciao for niao
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
Too many bean burritos?
Ok really not enough topsoil, the river rock is too close to the surface. My best guess.
If it really is bothersome, you might add a couple of inches of top soil over the drainfield. You might want to contact the health department first, though. Definitely you shouldn't add enough fill to alter the surface water flow in a way that adds water to the drainfield area. Also you'd want to avoid any heavy equipment over shallow lines.
Soap or salt attacking the roots?
I think Scott and Jeffwoodwork got it right, the drainage is too good and the topsoil is too thin.
My tank itself would do this, the soil was bone dry over the old tank.
I think there are some soil additives you can add to your top soil to help it to retain moisture.
Good luck,
Garett( Edit added Jeff)
Edited 8/24/2005 1:37 pm ET by Grott