Dog friendly garden

Whispered

Hey we're currently thinking of having our garden done and want what's easiest for us with the dogs, while still having a nice outdoor space with a built in bbq, seats etc.

Currently thinking of paving the whole thing and putting in planters. Harley is a heavy, excitable dog who likes to run around a lot. If there is grass there will be mud and he will find it. So it's pretty impossible to have a lawn with him. Would fence to fence paving be bad for his joints? He doesn't exercise out there or anything, but occasionally takes a spurt and runs around a bit when excited.

With regards to cleaning, can paving be power hosed? Would this be sufficient to keep the ground clean? (Obviously picking up anything too!)

The garden is long enough, so it might look a bit crappy to pave the whole lot anyway. Might be better to pave front half of it then fence off the back to bed a proper lawn and give it time to take, the look after it properly when the dogs are allowed back in it.

So imagine you're starting from scratch, with a garden approx the width of a terraced house and twice the length. What would you do and what would you avoid.

I posted this here because I want ideas from a dog owners point of view, mods if you feel not appropiate for this forum, instead of moving it to the gardening forum, please just lock. Thanks

star-pants

Our back garden has cement path, paving blocks (creating a path down the garden), decking through the middle, and two big enough patches of grass, some rockery areas that are covered with either stones or bark. (ha makes the garden sound huuuuuuge)

Anyway, we can powerhose the decking and the paths. Power hosing paving slabs/squares might be more of a problem depending on how they are laid, because the power hose may be too forceful on the gaps and remove some of the sand/whatever is going between them. (much like cobble-locking on a driveway) Doesn't mean it can't be done, but just so you're aware/careful.

I think it would still be nice to have some garden/grass area, for both the dogs & yourselves. I hate gardens with no grass, just seems very cold/drab. I think the idea you have of paving (of sorts) half/half with grass (that can be fenced off) is a good one.
That way you can let them on the grass when you like, but if they're digging it too much / the grass needs to recoup, you can fence it off. Friends of mine did that with their back garden as it was being destroyed by the 3 golden labs, both from doing their business on it and digging everything up.

Our girls like the different areas out the back for different things. Daisy just loves exploring, going behind the trees, eating the bark or lying on the stones/decking.
I'm sure lots of people will have their own experiences too

ppink

would you think of 50/50? our dogs just love the grass. it is easy on them for playing, I am always terrified of ours getting carried away on the tarmac as a fall at speed could break something. in the summer it is great as they all love to lie out under the hedge on the soft grass. if it was paving or hard i would be bringing in and out beds.
Paving can be powerwashed. there are loads of different types and some may be more porous than others and stain so that may be worth looking into.
you could put a picket fence or a small wall with a gate in between and just let them onto the grass in good weather.

Graces7

We are blessed here; we have just closed off the "real" garden to the dogs as we are using that for food and flowers.

Just outside that gate is a wild area, within our land, safely fenced. Overgrown but that is fine too. They can dig there to their hearts' content. Room to play football too.

Outside the door to the house is an area of concrete they and we can bask in the sun there; the rain does a great job of cleaning that and the dogs prefer the wild place anyways for all purposes.

Whispered

I'd love to have a wild space outside my garden! We're in a housing estate though, so we have to travel a few miles to get to places like that. Still though the dogs love their adventures out, something new to see every time. On our last walk we saw deer and frogs. Little phoe seemed bewildered, then got grumpy when we got rained on. Such a lovely day.

You certainly are lucky to have such space.

We have a bin shed, about chest height, that I intend on making a cat garden on, it's a suntrap. So thinking of planting some catnip and heather around the edges for privacy and we have some old mesh outdoor chairs which I will make a framed bed out of (water drips through so wont have to bring them in and out). And a small covered area for them to escape from the sun, with a few different levels.

What can I do to create something nice for the dogs, doggy sand pit? (might become a kitty sand pit though!) certain plants they like? Anything I can do to make the garden that little bit extra for the dogs? I'd prefer to encourage relaxation than excitement so nothing too stimulating!

Graces7

Whispered wrote: »

I'd love to have a wild space outside my garden! We're in a housing estate though, so we have to travel a few miles to get to places like that. Still though the dogs love their adventures out, something new to see every time. On our last walk we saw deer and frogs. Little phoe seemed bewildered, then got grumpy when we got rained on. Such a lovely day.

You certainly are lucky to have such space.

We have a bin shed, about chest height, that I intend on making a cat garden on, it's a suntrap. So thinking of planting some catnip and heather around the edges for privacy and we have some old mesh outdoor chairs which I will make a framed bed out of (water drips through so wont have to bring them in and out). And a small covered area for them to escape from the sun, with a few different levels.

What can I do to create something nice for the dogs, doggy sand pit? (might become a kitty sand pit though!) certain plants they like? Anything I can do to make the garden that little bit extra for the dogs? I'd prefer to encourage relaxation than excitement so nothing too stimulating!

Indeed we are blessed. And we are surrounded by cattle fields at present empty and our landlord who owns them is happy that we run the dogs there. I am taking them out before first light just now as collie will still try to chase cars that pass and I cannot get her back.

The place where they feed the cattle is now a muddy pool and the dogs have a wonderful time digging there. makes us laugh to watch them.. Will bring the loose earth in for the garden. Rich in... well YOU know! Any soft area will attract them to dig. Collie loves to eat nettles; none just now and she is missing them. Grass too. Collie really enjoys rolling in wet grass and keeps clean that way.

Compensation for almost getting stuck in the car in the laneway in the muck. :rolleyes:

ppink

we have a sand pit for ours and they love it too. especially hide the kong;)

the beech hedge is a favourite for ours, they like rooting around under it and then lying in the shade of it on hot day.

I also picked up a blow up swimming pool from lidl for ours last year:eek:. It was about €40 and went down a bomb! very handy as when you are not using it just empty and put away for next year. It was deep enough for both sheps to swim or wade and they had some battles in there. the little dogs had to swim though but they loved it for cooling down.

Whispered

Didn't they burst the pool? Sounds like a lovely idea if they use it. I have a friend who bought a large pool (large enough for her 5 rotties), and they turned it into a HUGE drinking bowl. Lazing around beside it on really hot days. But would get it.

Ppink, how do you keep the area around the pit clean? Is it built into the garden, or is it like a childs one? Do you find sand being flung everywhere?

Someone on Phoenix's facebook page suggested a large section of concrete pipe. Makes a great tunnel for training, somewhere to sit on a sunny day and if you cover it with turf, somewhere for the people to sit on too. Lovely idea, isn't it!

ppink

no they didn't burst it at all, which surprised me. they do know "gently" though! my right hand girl can carry baloons in her mouth without bursting them :P
it is only the sides that have the air in and the bottom was sturdy enough. i was going to build a ramp up and down over the side so they could hop in an out easy but then I ran over the pool with the lawnmower:( and it was ruined. i think if they have another this year i will get it though as they had such a good time. they were all disgusted with me:o

a pool for 5 Rotties would be like a lake

our sand pit is large and sprawled out all over the place! we are lucky to have fields and literally just dumped a load of sand.

what you could do is dig out a pit into the ground (kind of like a fish pond) and surround it with paving so it is easy to sweep back in the sand that gets flung out.

Sigma Force

I find paving slabs are best not grouted the grout can hold in wee smells but then you have the problem of weeds etc. but power hosing isn't a problem with them although we usually use a regular hose which works just fine.

If a pooch is getting on or having joint problems or you just want something softer for the dog to lie on if the garden is mostly concrete you could use rubber mats just regular large rubber mats you get in the hardware shop.

We have loads of grass but our dogs for some reason love to lie on concrete, although in the height of summer when we do get some stronger sun they prefer the grass. At this time of year the concrete and patio slabs soak up the heat so they like to sit on it in the sun.

Soft thick hedging is very popular with ours, especially the butterfly bush, they grow huge but only if you let them if you cut them back you can control them fine and they provide a great place for dogs to chill in the sun and it attracts the bees (never had any problem with bees n dogs) and butterflys and smells lovely esp. on a summers evening.

star-pants

another vote for getting a paddling pool for when it's hot during the summer.
We used one before, and little Daisy loved it, splashing in and out, kept her cool and happy. Lily however doesn't like being wet so was less happy about being placed in lol



(Actually Whispered, if you flick through my dog albums on fb you'll get the idea of our back garden) Though we did remove all evergreen trees/ferns because we thought they might be the cause of Daisy's extreme itchiness.

That soft bark stuff is good for covering up soil in & around plants, granted they might still dig it (or eat it like Daisy does), but also a soft surface and somewhere they may lie.

TooManyDogs

+1 for the paddling pool. I got one off my neighbours skip for my plants but the dogs had other ideas! They love to lie in it after a good training session.

I've got crap clay soil so I built raised flower beds to fill with decent topsoil but also so there was a clear difference between the ground and the flower beds so I could train the dogs not to jump into the flower beds. And then kill them when they jump up anyway and send bulbs flying :mad: Seriously though it is easier to train them to stay out of raised beds and mostly I have success

Dont try to plant grass on high traffic areas, you'll just have bare patches in it the lawn. See the paths your dogs have already worn and maybe put paving slabs there.

Whispered

Ok so a pool and a butterfly bush are two definates. Love the pics of the dogs in the pool.

Ppink, that pool looks huge!!

Sigmaforce, would slabs stay in place without grouting? I'm happy enough to pull up weeds etc.

Getting loads of lovely ideas here, thanks! Somebody suggested a pole with a tyre. Anybody any experience with one. Would the dogs use it do you think?

ppink

yea it was a big pool. I wanted to get them swimming as they cannot exercise much, so i did a good bit of investigating to get the deepest i could without spending a small fortune.
we did put a pole with some rag toys/kong attached but really ours have no interest. they only like to play either chasing each other for the ball/kong or with us.
with your slabs it really depends on the size you get. they are usually put on a bed of sand or sand/cement screed and whackered(vibrated)down into it.
are you looking at concrete or stone paving and what size.....cobble lock or slabs/flags?

of course after all of this we may all have to come for an inspection:P:eek:

Whispered

ppink wrote: »

with your slabs it really depends on the size you get. they are usually put on a bed of sand or sand/cement screed and whackered(vibrated)down into it.
are you looking at concrete or stone paving and what size.....cobble lock or slabs/flags?

of course after all of this we may all have to come for an inspection:P:eek:

No idea what I'm looking at to be honest. Will have to see how they compare in price, cleaning etc. Hopfully whoever I get to do it will be able to advise.

lol an api garden party.:D

CL32

How about half paved and half artificial grass?

Artificial grass is expensive so the cost might be prohibitive to do the whole garden, but depending on your budget, half might be feasible.

Our back garden is quite small and we got some put down. Its an absolute godsend. You just pick up poo's as you normally would and pee sinks straight through. (They lay a base of hardcore and sand under the grass so the drainage is better than normal soil) We've never noticed any odours, and the rain 'washes' the grass too. It gets nice and warm in the sun so our dog loves lying out on it.

Because of hosepipe bans in the states and Oz, the stuff has come along way and doesn't look like astroturf anymore. You get to choose length, colour and feel too. If you wanted that manicured lawn look you can have it with no effort ha ha. We went for one that golfers use for putting greens. It wouldn't fool anyone into thinking it was real grass but that's not want we wanted to do.

Our back garden turned into a bog, and I was originally going to slab the lot. I didn't think it would turn out to be a nice place for the dog to be when we were out so I decided to give the fake grass stuff a shot and havent looked back. I'll put up some pics if you want?

Whispered

Oh yes please, would love to see pics. Is it as expensive as paving? More so?

Thanks

CL32

I don't have many of the garden before we got it done (it wasn't very photogenic) but you might get an idea from these shots..




This is it under construction..


Nearly there..


Our budget ran out before we could choose trees and plants so thats all to come this year. The mess on the grass is a shredded plant pot and fibres from a tug rope. A quick brush gets it back pristine again. (I took these next few just now and I'll be damned if I'm getting the brush out on my day off )
The muck on the stones is from an overturned plant pot that I still have to clean up.




Close up of the grass. The real grass came up through the original paving over the winter so I'll have to get rid of that soon too. The brown object I've just noticed is actually some bark not poo :P I'll probably pick that up sometime in mid April ha ha.


We bought the grass ourselves, and got the work done by a fellow Boardsie who I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. If you want to get an idea of styles and prices of the grass itself, check out Sanctuary Synthetics, based in Kildare, to see if it could be a runner for you. PM me if you want the name of the guy who did ours, or if you want to see the garden for yourself.

Whispered

Looks great! How does it feel under your feet. I love the idea of being able to sweep my "lawn" not sure the oh will go for it, but would like to price it.

Did fellow boardsie gardener do the paving and flower beds too? It would be great if you could PM me some more info if you don't mind.

Thanks.

CL32

Yep he did the lot. PM with details sent.

They excavated the old muck, built the beds, laid the grass and paving at the back gate.

The grass feels great to lie out on in the summer. Your OH might be surprised at some of the styles on offer and how realistic they look, but if they like getting their hands dirty and the smell of cut grass it'll be a non runner

RubyGirl

http://www.oflynnlandscaping.ie/gallery.html#

What about something like this? I'm currently looking for ideas for my lawn, driveway aswell.

(It's the pic with the arch leading to grass area)