monzamess, I need to mention that before you go poking around with a metal pipe in a wet yard, make sure you know where any electrical or phone lines might be buried. :^O I wouldn't be surprised if there are two large trees growing directly over or into your lateral lines. Well fertilized and watered vegetation is going to put on some impressive growth in a hurry. That said, I have to tell you that is the strangest septic field I have ever seen. Sketched out in a bird's eye view, most would have a line running from the house to the tank, (with a vent pipe on the roof, and a clean out drain on the ground -before- you get to the septic tank), then continuing straight out from the tank with lateral lines branching off like the letter "E". After we finished reworking our septic system, our lateral lines form a modified "Y" because we had to work around existing mature trees, but the idea is to make it as easy as possible for water to drain away from the tank. It's JMHO, but a giant, elongated "s" shape would be highly inefficient to carry water; too many hairpin turns for something to back up and block the system. Not that someone couldn't put in such a system, just that it doesn't look like it would work well enough to be worth the effort. You don't say how old the "new" house is, but if it's less than 10 years old, you should be able to track down the plumber who was contracted by the builder to put the septic system in and find out what's up. You might also try calling a few local businesses that clean out septic tanks. The actual tank needs to periodically have the solids pumped out and disposed of. It could be that a previous owner has had that done, (especially if they had multiple children in the home), and the local company might be able to tell you something about the place. Once upon a time, you could have used a metal detector to find cast iron pipes, but nowdays, everything is plastic. :^/

Reading all of your posts have made me realize I am not alone in how I feel about losing my Mom.. I lost my Mom Sept 10th 2010 she died of complcations of a debilitating stroke that she had a year prior.. It was my worse nightmare her dying as when she had the stroke in 2009 she didn't really know me most of the time and she had no idea where she was or what happened to her and could do nothing for herself so really i lost her twice.. I had went to visit her the night before she had her stroke and I stayed late and she walked me to the door i can remember her waving goodbye to me how did I know that would be the last time she would do that or be the same person.. I feel guilty for leaving her that night but I didn't know this was going to happen.. I always called her every morning to make sure she was up and had ate and taken her pills but she didn't answer the phone ..I wasn't concerned as she sometimes slept late so I waited a little while and called again she still didn't answer so I called her neighbor and asked if she had seen MOm and if she would go to her apt and check on her I just was not thinking anything was wrong..Her friend did and she said Mom didn't answer the door but she said it sounded like she could hear Mom's voice.. So I got myself together and went to her apt we had a hard time getting in as she had locked the screen door. When we got in I found Mom on the floor in a sort of a twisted uncomfortable position ,I said Mom what happened do you know who I am and she said yes that I was her Mom I knew something was wrong , we called the emergency squad and they came and tried to get Mom up and to stand and her legs were like rubber and she was not speaking things that made sense the apt was a mess as she had been stumbling and falling trying to stand or get some where she had bloody bruises on her arms . We got her to the hospital and they xrayed her and ran tests she had had a very bad blood clot stroke that should have killed her they said but didn't it left her paralyzed on her whole right side and plus affected her sight as she saw double it was bad.. They told me there was nothing they could do she stayed in the hospital for 4 days and then told me I had to decide something ..I knew I couldn't take care of her by myself as I had severe back problems and she was going to need 24 hr care I had no other siblings or no other family close and my Mom nor I had the money to hire someone to help me.So against all I beleived and didn't want to do i had to put her in a nursing home something I swore i would never do .. The year I had her in there was a nightmare in itself,I had to fight with them not literally but you know what I mean to get them to take care of her right I was always upset everytime I visited her as I knew things were not right I would talk to them and ask why ,they would always blame it on some one else she had MRSA twice while she was there and an infection of the colon called C-Diff both staff infections were very contagious.. I talked to people outside of the nursing home to try to get help and called the state and couldn't get anything accomplished they don't care about elderly people and maybe because Mom was on Medicaid maybe that was not good either..It just was a living nightmare I was so upset all of the time after I would leave seeing her it affected my health and I hated seeing Mom like she was as she would not want to have lived if she knew she was having to depend on someone else to do everything for her and she was totally bedfast.. I was the only one to go and visit her as all other family was far away and the nursing home knew that and i think they took advantage of it I tried to go at different times but it didn't help it was just so hard and my husband was not a supportive person for me so i was dealing by myself which was very difficult.. She very seldon knew who I was she could talk at times and sometimes she was silent I continued to talk to her..The times she knew me and was able to tell me she loved me i will cherish in my heart..I was with her the day and through the night till the next moring when she passed holding her hand and singing to her as I always did the whole time she was in there..I would try to get her to sing with me the songs she knew to try to keep her mind alert and talking.. I just have guilt of having to put her in the nursing home and how she had was taken care I understand nursing home are short staff but I think they could do better then they do ,there were a few that really cared and did a good job but most of them could have cared less and the ones that would take the time and do a good job they would let them go so sad.. I miss my Momma so much I miss her voice being able to ask her things and hugs she was my best friend and was there when no one else was always..I feel when she died a part of me went with her there is an emptiness inside of me .. We don't know how it feels to lose a parent or anyone until we experience it ourselves.. Some people can just deal and get on with it ..Lot of people don't want to hear how you feel or what you are experienceing and we need to be able to talk about our loved one it does help.. Some days are so overwheming that I don't I am ever going to be able to deal and then a few days will go by and I am ok but My Mom is always in my thoughts each day.. I know she is by my side at times or comes in my thoughts ,I really don't think it is going to get easier the pain at times is so great..It is just so lonely at times.. It is hard to keep it all in some days I will just cry alot till its all out then i will be ok ..The strangest things will set the crying in and comes on me when I least expect.. My heart goes out to each one of you that has lost a loved one and know I understand and feel your pain.. I do know that if it was not for my faith in God I would be in worse shape then i am I know that he helps and that crying and talking about your loved one is part of the grief process.

Thank you all for your comments! I spent the weekend celebrating my baby girl's second birthday, getting sunburnt, and gestating garden design ideas inspired by your suggestions :) Yardvaark, the more I think of it, the more I'm liking the idea of a Belgian fence. It does sound like a fun project! Junco, I have serviceberry and was thinking of including it in the grove of trees somewhere on the front yard - a little concerned that it will run rampant and takeover other plantings though. Re: creeping raspberry - I definitely want to get some for my test/holding bed and see how they do here. I think it would look great on the slope if it could outcompete the weeds. Emmarene, I do have my little helper who enthusiastically waters the plants and picks up grubs and worms as pets, but that's about it. My husband is not fond of gardening. He has agreed to help me put up a grape arbor to support the 40 year old concord grape vines that came with the property, so yes! I am looking forward to making all sorts of grape-y yummies. I made some wine and canned grape juice one year, but the grapes have been awful (mummies most years probably too damp from laying on the ground). I made some corrections to the layout that better shows how the bend/curve of the road 'hugs' the frontmost yard, and I situated the Belgian fence where I think it will not obstruct the view of oncoming vehicles, for vehicles coming around the bend (hazardous). Maybe I could make a curved fence to follow the bend of the road? I also moved the grove of trees/bushes back against the east property line. At the moment, with no plants in that area, I get a clear view of what's around the bend as I approach it (driving), and I think that it would be good to keep the view unobstructed. Thanks again in advance for your thoughts. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Lilyfinch, to be honest I wing it as far as the lines of the beds. I use an edger shovel and eyeball it. I want to be outside right now cleaning up edges and getting rid of sod by the fence but I injured my ankle at crossfit yesterday and I am beyond annoyed with myself. I had tweaked it Monday but Tuesday it felt fine, yesterday I did a bunch of skaters and boom! My ankle told me it was very angry. Sigh. The weather was gorgeous yesterday in the mid seventies so I sat on the porch and daydreamed about the changes I want to make. I REALLY want to find the black and white anemone corms for sale but the only place I can find online that sells them to anyone has been sold out for months on end. I find the hardest part of gardening to be restraining myself. I ADORE formal English gardens which are so full of boxwoods and single varieties planted in multitudes but then I also want a cutting garden with all kinds of blue-based reds and purples and whites and pinks. The other side of the house by the AC unit has morning sun until noon and then afternoon shade, perfect for my hydrangea obsession. Unfortunately the ac units drain so much water that it floods the bed, I rigged up a hose to pipe it away into the grass but not until I realized how bad it was, AFTER my hydrangea all got terrible blackspot, which is pretty rare on a hydrangea. They are recovering slowly. The five hydrangea here in early April are blushing brides. The Japanese Maple was $5 from Lowe's, it had frost damage from a late frost after things had leafed out so I snatched it up because I adore coral barked Japanese Maples. I didn't take many pics of this area, I thought I had but I just checked and no such luck. Here is a close-up of one of the blushing bride's from June And now, they had been so full and covered in blooms but the added water just wrecked them. The rose on the left is about twenty years old, and don't tell anyone, but I kind of hate it. My old co-worker gave it to me because it wasn't happy in her yard, she wasn't sure what variety it is, some sort of David Austin. While it blooms regularly for me, the blooms don't smell like anything and they fall apart within a day, and they are only about an two-three inches wide or less. Meh.