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marlan_gw

Deep Root Turf Type Tall Fescue over Septic Leeching Field, safe?

marlan
10 years ago

I am looking to seed my lawn with Jonathan Green Black Beauty seeds, which is a Turf Type Tall Fescue. On their website, they advertise the grass will have a root system up to 4 feet deep.

I am planning to reseed the backyard, which is where the septic leeching field is. My question is, is the Turf Type Tall Fescue grass an issue over a septic leeching field with its rooting system reaching 4 feet deep into leeching field. I read online articles about no planting trees nor plants with deep roots over leeching field but I can not find any information pertaining to grass.

Thanks.

Comments (8)

  • mulchmama
    10 years ago

    Okay, hold on. I had to check out this phenom grass seed. What. A. SCAM.

    Let's look at what's in it:
    TEN PERCENT KY BLUEGRASS. They measure those percentages by weight, not the number of seeds. Bluegrass seeds are WAY tinier than fescue seeds, so your TTTF mix will actually turn out to be, what? Thirty or forty percent bluegrass?

    TEN PERCENT RYEGRASS. The most disease prone of all the cool-season grasses, added to commercial mixes because it germinates very fast and makes people feel happy.

    SIXTY PERCENT of two types of fescue. they don't say what the remaining 20% is.

    So your 10% ryegrass will germinate very quickly -- yayy!

    Then your 60% fescue will come in.

    Finally, if there is any room left or any sunlight available to the soil; surface, your 10% bluegrass will germinate. Or not. There might already be too much competition.

    In any case, your bluegrass in that mix will never produce roots that go down that deep. Never ever ever.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    10 years ago

    I'm skeptical of that claim, too. I have seen pictures of prairie grasses with roots that long, but not that deep. They go out horizontally when they hit a dry layer. I agree with what mulchmama said about the ultimate lawn mix. That mix gives you about a 50/50 fescue-KBG lawn. That is a reasonable lawn, but you have to watch what you're doing at the very first for the reasons mentioned.

  • CPTK
    10 years ago

    The product you guys are discussing is Black Beauty Ultra. The original Black Beauty is 100% TTTF. I'm not 100% sure which one he is using, but if you take his words at face value, he said, "I am looking to seed my lawn with Jonathan Green Black Beauty seeds, which is a Turf Type Tall Fescue." He didn't say Black Beauty Ultra, and he said the grass he was using was TTTF (no mention of KBG or PR). This leads me to the conclusion that he's using the original Black Beauty product.

  • marlan
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, I was considering using the original Black Beauty, which is 100% TTTF.

    I found this article.
    http://wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=3431&frontpage=true

    A clip from the article is below. It essentially states the shallow root grass should be planted over the septic. Sounds like TTTF would be a problem then.

    "We finally located a website that made specific recommendations on what should be planted above lateral lines-grass! The Ford County Kansas Septic System Information site gives a lot of good information on how to manage a septic system, but the piece of information we were most interested in was that perennial short grasses should be planted above the lines. Apparently, the shorter the grass, the shallower the roots."

  • marlan
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The article here, http://www.jonathangreen.com/index.cfm/news/id/1685/ , explains that tall fescues have an aggressive root system which can grow up to four feet deep. Below is a sniplet from that article:

    "Tall Fescues are set apart from the fine Fescues because Tall Fescues have a wider blade width and also have a very aggressive root system which can grow up to four feet into the ground in the right soil conditions."

  • mulchmama
    10 years ago

    Okay, I stand corrected on the seed mix thing. But I still think that's a whole lot of money to pay for tall fescue seed.

  • marlan
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    On the seed mix thing, the "original" Black Beauty (as opposed to the Black Beauty "Ultra") is indeed 100% turf type tall fescue. You're right though on the price, it is on the expensive side.

    Below is the link to seasonal information sheet for the original "Black Beauty".

    50% Dakota Tall Fescue
    25% Taos Tall Fescue
    25% Tombstone Tall Fescue

    http://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/289/filecollections/1450/Black%20Beauty%20HO%202011%20e.pdf