still having backyard issues... :(

[Chels*Claud*Midas]

ok so u may have read my previous backyard post... ive been looking a lot in the turf (artificial grass) for my yard... even thinking of laying it down myself.. but it is verrryyy costly... any other ideas besides grass that keep the mess to a minimum that i can mention to my in laws? gravel?? concrete?? i still want midas to be able to play..not destroy the yard and keep his toesies from getting filtho! lol thanks in advance.. all suggestions welcome..oh and pics too! :) xoxo

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I'd give it a few weeks. Right now, everyone's lawn really looks terrible. The grass is still dormant.

If you have spots, we all have a small pile of topsoil and a bag a grass seed and repair as you go along. With dogs, it is an on going maintenance.  Not just a one time fix. It is never going to be perfect again.  Not like a No Dog Home, but really small repairs, kept up weekly, are the key.

I did take some pictures for your last discussion,but I never posted. I'll try to show you what I am talking about.. if I can find those photos.

So, for now, by some topsoil <small bag>, a bag of Fescue Grass Seed.  

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I work here.  It has at least 40 landscapers and many professional gardeners working full time year round.  They have college degrees in Landscape Architecture.   The grass and flowers are stunning.  If there is a spot out of line, they place expensive sod down yearly.  I always joke, there goes my raise as this establishment spends all their money on the grounds. Here is DORMANT Grass.  All other times of the year, it is the most heavenly grass to sit on. You could sleep here it is thick and soft. You cant get better than this place, yet look how BAD it is right now

Give this a few weeks, and it will be picture perfect

Notice the artificial turf- dormant grass and green grass comparison

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

And here is was last summer.  This sod cost over a million dollars on just this soccer field.  (Top Left Corner of the last photo)  But, look in my pics above.  It looks terrible.

Wait to spend money until June. Tell us what it looks like then.  Plant some seed in the round spots. 

[Chels*Claud*Midas]

wow thats a pretty amazing difference!!! thanks hehe!

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Like Joanne mentioned I don't think you will ever have a perfect lawn if you have an active dog. Gravel and concrete sounds no fun for Midas :p. I have a big yard which once had a beautiful lawn. Today the grass is patchy and ugly. Partly because its winter, partly because a little black dog likes to chew and break sprinkler heads, and partly because a bigger cream dog likes to dig holes to China. I do exactly what Joanne said having a bag of soil and fescue handy! Recently I found out I have weeds! I love that's dogs can run around on the grass and play. Every day I water my fescue piles in hopes my grass will one day be pretty. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Here is a picture of the worst part of my lawn.  The little brown holes are what Bender dug and i filled with soil and seed.  I think grass (even ugly) are the best for my dogs because they LOVE running and rolling in it :)  

[Lynne and Riley]

Having had both P gravel and concrete, the concrete kept the nails short but had a lot of scrapes/joint problems on the dogs from running and playing. The P gravel was a nightmare, I had an old lady dog that ate the gravel and ended up with a stomach full of gravel.The pain that she was in was horrible the trip to the vet to have it removed was horrible for me pre-pet insurance. The recovery from the surgery was long. Then we had issues with the gravel getting stuck between the pads that brought another set of issues.

In short, I agree with Joanne get some seed and top soil.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Lynne, how sad for your ' old girl dog' :(
Yes, I've heard the bad stories about gravel that you shared, plus it is hard to keep sanitary. Cement, well that won't work at all, and Chelsea, many types of MULCH ARE poisonous !

So, the love of a dog vs a fantastic lawn. We get it. I think if you showed the in laws you are trying, might be the best solution.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

how sad :(

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

Joanna, your "bad lawn" would be - at this point - my "dream lawn." 

So much of my beautiful back yard is now nothing but dirt.  The dogs have annihilated my grass in a large section of the yard and no matter what I have done, nothing will grow there.  The grass is gone from the dogs running, wrestling, playing, laying, and just hangin' out in the sun.  Whenever I put anything down, within days it's been trampled, flung, moved, or mysteriously disappeared.  I have come to the conclussion that nothing but pine straw will do in those large sections of dirt to keep the dogs a little more clean than if it were just dirt.  If I need a "pretty yard fix", I glance out my living room window and longingly sigh at the neighbors across the street.

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

My goal this year is to keep Stanlee from sleeping in my patio garden.  My African Iris already look like ¢ra¶.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Oh I can not have any flowers!  Zoe paws and tries to eat them!  I had a small herb garden on the side of the house too but now there is nothing there :(