Pauline At my old home I had a combination of Drippers and overhead sprinklers to accomodate the various conditions in my garden. Most of it was rose beds with small areas of lawn scattered here and there. I had noticed the roses near the areas of grass that were watered overhead tended to have cleaner foliage than areas with just drip irrigation. Here at my new home, I decided to just go with overhead sprinklers. The main reason was due to the stroke I had before the system was installed. The roses were not planted until after my stroke so for a few years my rose beds were a work in progress. Installing drip irrigation was beyond my scope of ability at the time. I could probably do it now but the system I have works. Due to my experience with the clean foliage from the overhead watering, I opted to just go that way. My stystem comes on at 4:00 A.M. and finishes by 11:00 A.M. By noon most foliage is dry. At this late date my roses are mostly blackspot free except for a few small areas that get little sun this late in the season. Most beds have good air circulation that helps things dry. A few dead air spaces have roses with blackspot. I'm working on moving roses from those areas. Due to the cool temps we've had all summer, I've not had to water as much as normal. Right now the system is turned off. When on, it waters each of 8 zones for one hour every other day. a rain shutoff keeps the system shut down on rainy days. My very sandy soil lets me water often and very wet soil is dry by late afternoon on hot sunny days. My water source is a four inch well with a one horsepower submersible pump. Our water table is high. Most in the area have wells only 20 feet deep. Mine is 40 feet deep. While a few in the area have pumped air during periods of drought, mine has never faltered. My sandy soil and proximity to Lake Michigan possibly helps keep our water table so high. We've all got septic systems so any water used stays here and doesn't run off into storm drains or sewers. By using mostly organic fertilizers and no pesticides, I avoid any chemical fertilizer or pesticide contamination in my water. All these factors must be considered or eventually one will run out of or begin to pump contaminated water.

Well, NUTS! (not quite as scorching as the first to come to mind). I just don't know what to do in this "problem area". This is the same area where you were helping me with my "Disguise the Septic Tank" issue (and the bland, ugly end of my house that's the first part of it seen)!!!. AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! Now that I have that out of my system (lol)... I guess the first thing I need to do is move the daylillies, huh? How far away from the tank do they need to be? What about the others listed (I also have snapdragons that I forgot to mention in this post)? As for the fescue, it's not really my intention to have a "lawn" in this area. I'm using it to help choke out the broadleaf weeds, break up the clay & add organic material when it dies. It was a relatively inexpensive way to get results quickly. That was my thinking, anyway. I've been thinking about checking out some Xeriscape stuff so that I don't have to water much. But then, I don't know if the truly drought tolerant stuff will help prevent erosion, or worse, will they seek out the tanks? Other than the grass, I can move everything else I have planted if I have to. The area is clay, but it's also one of the few places on our property that actually gets a good amount of sun. It IS convenient to water there, and when it does rain that area get's a lot of it, but I don't HAVE TO have moisture lovers there. Ultimately, I really want something somewhat TALL in this area because it's just so... ICKY. The tanks & all their stuff are there & the house itself is just BLAH (the plain end of a single-wide mobile home. There, I said it! Yup, we're trailer trash - lol). Of course, my MAIN concern is the roots getting into the tanks & the wires. It's SO DIFFICULT to find info on what a plants roots are going to do. That's the main reason I'm thinking pots/containers... for THIS area (of course, I'd prefer ones that are relatively managable IF we ever have to move them, but that's not a major concern). I'm not as concerned about plopping things in the ground in other areas... unless they are invasive. So... ALL that being said, are you still recommending the Sedum? What are your thoughts on the lavender & rosemary -will they serve my purpose & do well here? What other suggestions do you have for a "disguise" (tall, wide, etc)? THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I'm off to research versailles planters. - Mari

Typical well designed spray irrigation will at best be ~ 60% efficient WRT water utilization. Atomization in air, overspray, runoff, and surface water evaporation create the water loss and decrease efficiency. Most systems are so poorly maintained and not adjusted for seasons that this numbers is significantly lower. Typical well adjusted drip systems are more than 90% efficient with water use. Even when they are not adjusted for season, they conserve more water than even a fine tuned spray system. The challenge with drip is two-fold: 1. It is usually more labor intensive to deploy and maintain. 2. To meet the high efficiency number you must do a lot of figuring and arithmetic to design the system correctly. To the second point; A proper design requires: a) Calculating the daily amount of water each type of plant needs during the hottest, driest month. b) Determining the water holding capacity of the soil. c) Deriving from above data the best schedule for achieving the least frequent deep watering of the plant root zones while providing their daily need of water. If you spend a few rainy cold winter days figuring these things out, it can pay great dividend come growing season with healthy happy stress free plants.

We have a pressurized system, uphill drain field. Had it for almost 20 years. When we built our new house the system had to be inspected. We had the septic guys run some enzymes down the lines which is supposed to help keep them clean and further break-up any small solids that could clog the drain holes, it also help keep the drain field from clogging up. It was in perfect condition after 18 years of use, had it pumped once about 10 years ago. Drain fields have a life span, in almost every case (at least in Oregon) you have to have a plan with a secondary drain field in case the original field fails to leach over time. In talking w/the septic guys these are almost never needed with a properly set-up drain field. There is a required amount of feet needed for the drain field and leach lines depending on the size of your tank and amount of bathrooms in the house. Ours is 300 ft, however it can be done in multiple runs, ours T's 3 times on it's way up the hill. And yes, the grass does stay nice and green over the drain field, mostly following the lines. In nearly 20 years we had the alarm go off once, when the input exceeds the outflow and overwhelms the pump. Had some water back up into the laundry room, it was a very minor event. Glad for the alarm! Ours is 1500/500 gallons. The 500 gallon side has the pump. One thing I will mention don't pay attention to ads by Ridex and the like. Our county has asked all residents on septic systems to NOT add any additives to the septic system. A properly used system will have plenty of bacteria and enzymes to break down the solids. Haven't used the stuff in over 10 years (only used it sporadically prior to that). I'm not exactly sure of their reasoning other than it shouldn't need it, maybe it's not good for the soil.