Moving to new house, need lawn for dogs ASAP!

conorsomahony

Hi,
We have renovated a house over the past while, and are nearly finished and are trying to move in there in the next week or two.

The garden at the back is basically a pile of mud. We had hoped to set grass seed there but can't do that for the moment and the problem is we have 2 dogs that are basically going to be covered in mud. The solution we are thinking of is maybe putting down some rolls of lawn turf.

Any advice or alternative suggestions, or know any landscapers or turf people that could do this?

rje66

conorsomahony wrote: »

Hi,
We have renovated a house over the past while, and are nearly finished and are trying to move in there in the next week or two.

The garden at the back is basically a pile of mud. We had hoped to set grass seed there but can't do that for the moment and the problem is we have 2 dogs that are basically going to be covered in mud. The solution we are thinking of is maybe putting down some rolls of lawn turf.

Any advice or alternative suggestions, or know any landscapers or turf people that could do this?

it a a tricky one this time of year. A lot of factors to consider. What size are the dogs and garden and is it possible to keep them off it ?
1.fake grass is the ideal solution, but it's expensive.
2. Roll out grass, will work, but will need dogs off it for a good while as it won't root in for ages and will get trashed very quickly if dogs are on it.
3. Seed. See 2 above but with worse consequences.
4. Do some of2 or3 above and fence off an area for dogs. In fenced off area lay a bit of old carpet for dogs to walk on off mud, then later in year remove fenced off area and convert to grass.
5 don't have grass but have cheaper concrete slabs in a permanent dog enclosure.
6. If you are close to Dublin pm meðŸ˜႒.

conorsomahony

Thanks for the reply -

The garden is roughly 24 ft by 36 ft (excluding a small patio area that is already paved).
The dogs are Golden Retrievers, so we would have to put up fencing anyway now to keep them off some/all of it depending on what we do.

If we put down some rolls of grass now, how long would it take to root? would it take a few weeks or would it basically be waiting until the spring and the weather improves?

rje66

conorsomahony wrote: »

Thanks for the reply
If we put down some rolls of grass now, how long would it take to root? would it take a few weeks or would it basically be waiting until the spring and the weather improves?

Spring. Grass doesn't grow when below 5degrees

Sonnenblumen

That isn't a large area but you've got large dogs. there are 2 major issues, protecting the new roll turf (which at this time of year will not be easy) and preventing the dogs creating an almighty mess (mud bath/dog fouling etc).

There are 2 options worth considering:
- divide the area and line one half with grass and the other half with good quality horticultural liner (eg Mypex). Neither option will be expensive. You will need to put a barrier to keep dogs off the grass section until you see signs of new growth (which if temps are OK will continue to grow through winter).
Meanwhile secure the liner in position, this should provide an easily cleanable and permeable surface. You will avoid any mudbaths and all you have to remove is faeces.

It is with luck possible that the grass will establish before the end of January at which point you can remove the liner and grass the other half?

Waiting till spring will probably be a last and very challenging alternative.