My parents in the Central Valley of California had constant problems with roots in their septic drain line and field. There were grape vines, crepe myrtles, walnuts, oleanders, and others nearby. I read that trees with a straight taproot like oaks and pines were preferable to ones like elm or maple. I have blueberries over our drain field.
In my community most people donât have an option- forest trees have roots in their leach fields right up to their septic tanks for most of my neighbors. I wish I knew of research that compared the life of septic systems near forest trees compared to those not. I can only say that my system is about 75 years old and has never needed any work- at least for the last 25 years but probably never.
I suppose a septic repair and replacement man would have a pretty good handle on it without research. After a couple of decades he would know where septic tanks tend to fail.
I know that I have replaced sewer lines to the septic that elm tree roots had closed. Not penetrated but grown slowly and collapsed the pvc pipe without breaking it. Crazy. I am not a septic man, but I am a banker so same difference. That being said I wouldnât, and have not hesitated to plant my fruit trees near my septic.
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my raspberries, aronia, lingonberries and blueberries are growing over the upper edge of my leach field. my currants are at the end of the lower edge as well as a tamarack tree which grows very well in that low wet spot there.
Itâs always amusing when academics discharge expert opinions based on nothing but âcommon senseâ. The funny thing about the extension guidance is that someone that actually replaces leach lines for a living would have a much better grasp of the reality of the risks than an academic. Of course there is no way to evaluate the source of the âwisdomâ in this article because no mention is made of where the recommendations are drawn from. Maybe they interviewed a number of contractors although bet they didnât. One thing Iâm almost certain of, is the opinions expressed are not research based. Where would the funding come from?