Any suggestions for how to care for the land area directly above a septic tank? I'm a first-time home buyer with a septic tank in my front yard. I'd like it to be aesthetically pleasing and consistent with the rest of the yard but didn't know if there was any special considerations to be aware of (e.g. don't water, mow, seed, etc).
-M
You can pretty much do anything above a septic tank, as long as you aren't going to be doing major landscaping that requires tractors, heavy equipment, etc..
The one thing you do want to be aware of is the location of any inspection pipes, or manholes that might have a negative effect on mower blades. Trying to mow around these nice yard "features" can be quite frustrating. For our old system, we mulched around the area containing the manholes and inspection pipes (~ 4" white pvc pipe with a cap), and planted a nice flower garden around it. We had our 3-year pumpings scheduled in the early spring before we plant, and if we needed work done on the system, flowers are easy enough to re-plant. There are also some realistic looking fake hollow rocks you can buy- we'll probably do this at our new place, as the covers are in an area not well suited to a flower garden.
When it comes to make the hatch invisible, I personally use a large flowers vase. Previously I had a human statue (of manageable weight). It adds a nice touch of classic to the garden, and it can be removed easily from the hatch when you require emptying. Unfortunately it is prone to falling when you have a dog or small children. The vase is a much safer solution.
I wouldn't water the septic drain field. I would leave it dry so it can absorb as much water from the septic as possible.
I am looking to cover our ~3 foot diameter cement cover with "green roof" / "green wall" grass. The grass grows upon a substrate designed for a roof or to be hung-on-a-wall. enter link description here
