Grass question

[bluedog225]

About a week ago, I had the who installed my septic system bring out his excavator to move my shipping container, remove some mesquite, and other little things.

I also asked him to prepare a site for my 3000 to 5000 gallon rainwater storage tank. The site on a gentle slope. I asked him to cut into the slope and backfill to make a flat area about 10 feet in diameter.

He thought it was a better idea to take all the extra sandy loam and washed septic rock and make a raised area.

He sets tanks for living and has been around a while. I deferred to his judgment on how to set this up.

I like the way it turned out. The sand loam is relatively compacted from having the bobcat drive over it. And the whole mound is covered with septic stone.

My question is how to prevent the sandy loam from washing out over time? Of course I’ll take care of the overflow drainage to make sure it isn’t directed towards the foundation.

I’ve never paid much attention to lawn stuff or grass types. But I know there are some people who pay a lot of attention to this type of thing. What’s a good grass cover with a robust root system that might be able to survive Texas Summers?

I was looking around and it looks like zenith zoysia might be a candidate.

The rain barrel in the upper left is set where the intake hatch on the tank will sit.

What did you guys think?

Thanks

 

[PCustoms]

All I see is rock, you might grow weeds, but not grass...

 

[bluedog225]

It’s only an inch or so of rock over the whole mound.

 

[manwithtools]

That rock has enough thermal mass to fry any grass that might try to grow in between the stones. One good day in the hot Texas sun and it's way too hot for grass to grow there.

 

[PCustoms]

It’s only an inch or so of rock over the whole mound.

Try cacti?

 

[Snip's]

With all those rocks... AstroTurf would grow there...

 

[bluedog225]

Y’all make an interesting point. But I’m pretty sure in a year it’s going to be covered with knee high weeds no matter what I plant.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Build a deck on top of the rocks.

 

[PCustoms]

Y’all make an interesting point. But I’m pretty sure in the year it’s going to be covered with knee high weeds no matter what I plant.

Mow them.

That's half my yard

 

[Fixr]

Mow them.

That's half my yard

Only half? Slacker.

 

[Yellerdog]

Bermuda grass will grow anywhere

 

[dcg9381]

My question is how to prevent the sandy loam from washing out over time? Of course I’ll take care of the overflow drainage to make sure it isn’t directed towards the foundation.

I have 5000 gallon tanks. I put them on concrete, but as long as you're routing water around, it's not like they have huge surface area, so you're not going to be creating a drainage problem.

But I know there are some people who pay a lot of attention to this type of thing.

In those types of areas, you can't do this sort of thing. Screw 'em.

What’s a good grass cover with a robust root system that might be able to survive Texas Summers?

Grass doesn't grow in TX unless you water it. You could throw a bunch of dirt on top of that septic rock, cover it in St. Augustine sod and it'd probably be good to go if you water the **** out of it. Are you collecting water so you can water the base of the water tank? Asking for a friend. I do everything I can to keep the watering in the yard to a minimum. Tanks are our only source of water.

Personally, I just let the weeds do their thing. Stuff WILL grow up between the septic rock which will help stabilize the base. If you want it to look "nice" you probably have to frame it in with some masonry etc.

 

[bluedog225]

Not looking to make it look nice. I’d just like to have some stuff growing there to hold it all together. Particularly on the edges. I’ve got some time to deal with this. I need to water it in well and tamp the carp out of it. Get it nice and flat as well.

Agreed that it’s a challenging area if I were trying to grow a lawn. Though this particular spot is shaded from the western sun.

If I thought about this earlier, I could’ve simply mowed the native pasture when it went to seed and thrown all that stuff on top.