The Word on Worms and Septic Tanks

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

This type of land usually consists of scrub or native grasses most of the growing season, but in the springtime it will be saturated from snowmelt and groundwater running down into the valley to be drained away in the valley's stream.

My advice is to wait until late summer or fall to set your posts. By that time, the water table will have fallen out of sight - partly drained off, partly taken up and evaporated away by vegetation. You could use commercially available posts that have been pressure-treated with copper, arsenic and other noxious chemicals, or you could fire-char and/or soak your own in creosote, borax, rock salt or other natural preservatives to protect the posts from insect and fungus damage.

Char or soak the posts to a foot or two above ground level; this is the point where posts stay moist all year and rot away- below ground they remain water-saturated, above ground they stay relatively dry. Dig your holes deep and line the bottoms with several inches of stone. You should anchor the posts with donuts of concrete, but be sure to leave the post bottoms open so the wood can drain well.

We've had a terrible drought in this formerly lush state, and anyone who wanted to grow veggies or flowers had to use whatever creative methods they could think up to gather and save water. I was recently told that an efficient way to water and nourish my garden is to drain my washing machine into it using a PVC pipe. Is this safe? Should I switch from Arm & Hammer to health-food store detergent?

KATHRYN MORRIS
Tampa, Florida

Wash- and rinsewater from sinks, showers and washing machines can be run onto your lawn or garden without worry as long as Tampa continues to enjoy ample winter rains that leach away accumulated salts. Be careful not to allow hot water to contact plants, and if you reuse kitchen sink or dishwasher water, run it through a grease trap.

No commercially available dish or laundry detergents contain dangerously toxic chemicals, but you'll want to dilute "industrial strength" detergents or anything containing bleach before running it out on plants. Arm & Hammer, the detergent we happen to use, is among the mildest detergents made.

As far as nutrients are concerned, most detergents contain phosphates; among them, phosphorous is one of the three major plant nutrients that is often lacking in garden soils and in our supermarket-supplied diets.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print