I recently found out that a fiber optic company, Midco, laid their cables in my yard while I was away, and now they're right where I wanted to do some landscaping. I was considering planting some trees but am now leaning towards raised garden beds instead. I noticed that there was a better path they could have taken along the driveway and side of the house, but instead, they cut straight through my yard. I'm wondering if there's a way to have them reroute the cable without breaking the bank, or if I can plant over it safely, or if I'm just stuck with this situation unless I invest a lot of money to fix it.
3 Answers
If it’s the main service line to your home, it's likely just a few inches underground. You could carefully dig it up from the house, plant your beds, and then call them to rebury it—just let them know where you’ve planted. They should be able to accommodate that pretty easily.
Generally, fiber optic cables are buried deep enough that you shouldn't have too many issues with planting over them, as they usually go under the root zones of most plants. I'd recommend reaching out to Midco to check their rules on planting above their lines. They might have specific regulations or warnings about future digs for repairs that could affect your garden layout.
You should definitely check how deep they buried the cable; it varies a lot depending on the contractor they hired. In some cases, they don’t bury it as deep as they should. If it's not at the regulatory depth (like around 6 inches where I live), you could potentially get them to come out for free and fix it. If you're up for it, re-burial is relatively easy, just make a shallow trench. The cable is small, so you won't have to worry much about perfect depth or slope.
Just to add, my AT&T fiber was buried only about 6 inches down at most, so it varies. It's best to check what depth yours is at.