Bboy, those maps were obviously drawn up with all the seismic lines taken into consideration. Sorry. Bad joke- bad, bad joke. God, don't strike me down. Seriously, microclimates DO exist EVERYWHERE- like the South facing side of my brick home where I grow my Loquat, but I do know that the terrain out West is very diverse. Hope to see it in person some day. Most shrubs sold at a nursery though should be suitable for planting in the not too distant vicinity of the nursery's location WITHOUT the artifical extra heat of a brick home's exterior. I'm not saying I don't ever shop at the Big Box stores, but I've really stopped expecting them to get much of anything right. There is NO replacement for a gardener's own behind the scenes research- however, I view the knowledge of the staff as a major indication of a nursery's reputabilty. You ought to know what you sell by in large. Sure, you may have a few grunts loading and unloading things off of a truck or people who have just begun to get their feet wet, but there should be SOMEONE present who has some idea of the plant you are asking about or has the ability to summons someone else who does ASAP. They should also have good reference books ON HAND because, obviously, no one can know everything. And I don't think I'm a snob about latin names, but if I go to A NURSERY and the person in charge of shrubs doesn't know what "Prunus laurocerasus" is when they've been selling "Cherry Laurels" for years, I will be extremely leery and take any info I gather there with half a grain of salt. I've been shocked by nursery owners who obviously couldn't explain the difference between a genus, a species and a cultivar if they had to. Not that I've ever directly asked someone to do so- I never set out to embarass someone, but I will find subtle ways of "testing the water" if I wind up at a strange nursery and feel like maybe gambling on a plant that I am less familiar with.

IF you are willing to shell out the hefty expense that could be needed to repair the septic system and IF you are willing to treat religiously with the copper sulphate, then go ahead and leave the trees in place. But I think you are just asking for trouble. Root barriers are a possible short term solution - they will only delay the inevitable and can just as easily negatively impact the health of the trees if needed to be installed too close to the trunk or current root ball. There are very good reasons why it is advised to plant trees well away from septic systems - it just creates very costly problems that can impact not ony your plumbing, but a well if you have one and groundwater. Tree roots spread out a great distance, some much further than others -- a good rule of thumb is 2-3 times the mature spread of the tree. And several of those you have planted are considered no-no's within a 100' of a septic system. But it's your choice.......:-) Does this Copper Fungicide CuSO4 stuff come with a full repair your septic tank for xxx year guarantee or do it's seller's have no faith in the product? New cars come with warranties. That's one of the sillier questions/statements I've seen in awhile! Copper sulphate is a chemical with a host of different usages - it was not invented or intended specifically to "cure" root problems with septic systems but has found to be moderately effective in doing so. But when you are dealing with living organisms (trees) there are NO guarantees about anything -- these are not new cars. The only 'guarantee' you can expect to realize when it comes to dealing with tree roots potentially damaging a septic system is to NOT plant them anywhere close.

Hi George - the box is made from sawmill-cut cedar, that is a full 1" x 8".The 2x4's at the top of each trellis is what I intend to attach my slings to - for supporting the heavy items.This way,I can literally hang probably 100 lbs of produce items from each one.The wire mesh is very small,but will only be supporting the vines.And....thank you for the compliment on the design.As you can tell,it was not a copy from anyone else.I only looked at what other people were using,and tried to improve on their ideas.Some people think that i'm kinda weird -or different, and hardly post messages to my threads.I have obsessive compulsive personality disorder, which makes me a perfectionist- and everything has to be a certain way -with failure never being an option.( I have already planted my garden, and have redrawn it over 30 times,because it's still not perfect in my mind).If that gives you any idea what I go through with everything.But, feel free to ask any question - because I can build anything from a sandbox to a space shuttle.I have degrees in air conditioning/refrigeration,industrial electricity,industrial hydraulics,carpentry,and industrial maintenance.Hope everything works out.

From reading all of this it is now obvious to me that most people have very little if any knowledge of how a septic system really works. The vegetation covering a leach field is vital to the proper performance of the system. A septic tank is a large water tight rectangular or cylindrical tank made out of concrete, metal, fiberglass or plastic. The sewer line enters the tank on one end near the top of the tank. The discharge line to the leach field exits the opposite end of the tank 6" below the level of the sewer line. Inside the tank there is a baffle that divides the tank into two chambers, the sediment chamber and the digester, although in truth the digestion takes place throughout the entire tank. As the effluent enters the first chamber it is a mixture of water, fecal matter, soap, household chemicals, organic kitchen waste, human hair & skin cells, metals, plastics, paper, kids toys and no doubt a couple dozen golf balls as some idiot demonstrates his new toilet to the neighbors. As that mess enters the first chamber the heavier materials drop to the bottom of the chamber while the lighter floatable solids remain near the surface where they are slowly broken down into a thick slurry. The slurry then passes through the baffle and into the digestion chamber. Inside the septic tank there is a colony of "Anaerobic bacteria" (bacterial which thrive in the absence of air) that literally eat the waste and in the process the waste is converted to a gray water liquid. The gray water then flows into the leach field pipe system. In the leach field pipe system there is another colony of bacteria, only this time it is "Aerobic bacteria" (bacteria which thrives in air). The aerobic bacteria then eat the remaining waste in the gray water and they give off water and produce various nitrates. The final phase of the waste treatment process is done by the vegetation covering the leach field. The plants(generally sod) roots take in the water and nitrates. During daylight hours the plants take in some carbon dioxide through their roots from the leach field but generally they get the most of their carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Through the process of "Photosynthesis" the plants use sunlight energy to convert the water and nitrates to the nutrients the plants need for growth. In exchange the the plants give off pure oxygen and water vapor into the atmosphere. Sod is the preferred covering over a leech field because a healthy stand of sod promotes earthworms which aerate the soil allowing air to get into the leach field pipe to support the aerobic bacteria colony. If you were to cover the leech field with P-gravel or mulch there would be no vegetation roots to absorb the water, nor would there be sufficient oxygen getting into the leach field to support the aerobic bacteria. The end result would be a saturation of the soil surrounding the leach field and the raw gray water would percolate to the surface creating a health hazard. I have lived in regions where they don't even allow you to sit a picnic table over the leach field, although I never heard of anyone getting busted for it.