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I want to put in some trees along the rear fence line of my property. I live in a small rural community and the town is on a common effluent program, there's a bit of a shallow ditch at the rear of the property and I think there are some sort of pipes under there, or it's a drain field or something. I don't know much about it at all.

My problem is the hot western sun bakes my property and I am not sure if I should grow any vegetation there. None of my neighbors grow much in their garden or seem to be very helpful with knowledge in that respect. I wanted to put in some trees or large shrubs to at least give some protection from the weather and some privacy as well.

I tried asking the septic tank emptying guy who works for the council when they came around with the pump truck, but he didn't know anything about it either. Does anyone know what I am talking about out there?

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  • king stropharia are used to treat e-coli
    – black thumb
    Commented Mar 9, 2019 at 21:42
  • You should check local regulations. On many places one cannot plant a tree near property borders and he is responsible of damages of tree (and root) outside the property. I would re frame the question allowing climbing plants (less problem with roots, shadow is more controllable, but you will not have the same height).
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 9:17

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It's not weird to want to know where the septic is -- the holding tank, the pipes, and the leach field if there is one. You should not plant trees over any of this. The roots can damage this important infrastructure.

You tried asking your neighbours without success. So now ask your municipality. They probably know, since it's their system and they maintain it. What's more, the person who can tell you if there's a leach field, where it is, and so on can also probably give you advice about what is ok to plant where. There are some very knowledgeable and helpful people working for municipalities and the only way to establish if you have one of those is to make a phone call or send an email and see what happens.

BTW, when you do learn these things, document them somewhere. When you move out, leave a printout behind of stuff like what is under the ground and when the roof was last done. The new people will really appreciate it.

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It depends on how old the septic system is. If it's using clay pipes then roots of many trees can invade and block the pipes. We had a norfolk pine roots invade such a pipe that was 3m (10ft) away. We had to chop it down and dig up the pipe work to repair it. The clay pipes sre short lengths laid overlapping each other with no or vey little sealing between them. And ground movement can crack or dislodge them.

If its newer then it would have PVC pipes. These will still get damaged by tree roots. If the pipes have not been sealed properly or even have a tiny crack then roots may invade and over a few years completely block them.

Finally if its an effluent field then you should not plant trees, again because of possible damage. It does benefit from shrubs growing on it, more than grass. They drain more moisture away from the ground than grass.

In conclusion, I would suggest shrubs or bushes and avoid deep roots. You can get some that can grow 2m, 6ft very fast. I am only comfortable with species down under. So ask a garden centre for advice.

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Any tree you do plant should be located at least 20 to 50 feet away from the septic line. Shrubs minimum of ten.

One trick in tree planting is lay the roots in outward direction so they grow away from property

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