Any suggestions on landscaping a backyard in a "pet-friendly" way?
I have great back yard and beautiful stone patio, however I have six active dogs who spend most days outside. Right now the yard is a mud-pit because I do not want to put down grass only to be trampled. Are there any websites or books? Also any suggestions would be great!
I agree with Jonathan S above. But one thing I know from experience is that dogs like to make paths around the yard. They will have these little dirt paths of their favorite routes around and across the yard. If you end up landscaping the yard, you need to keep these paths open. Consider looking into a hardscaping (rock or something similar) on these paths that will stand up to the dogs feet. My parents have a people yard and a dog yard. The dog yard has trees (natural oaks) and leaf litter and grass clippings on the ground. It ain't pretty, but the dog knows it's his place to use the bathroom where he wants and by leaving the leaves and then dumping the grass clippings, there is no mud. The dog gets to go in the people garden, but only under supervision. He also has a cemented patio with a large dog house with sawdust inside. He loves that place. So do our cats, and sometimes we catch them sharing it.
Filed under: Backyard Landscaping
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Large active dogs & something green under foot?? Good luck. I dug up a good sized area that curved yet close to outer border of house & larger piece more centered of yard. The outer trench held 1" thick & 9" deep of poured cement & cemented squared colored bricks on top of this trench with the bricks ground level so the mower goes over them. Inside each of these spots I planted all daylillies plus 2′ X 2′ pavers winding thru middle of big spot. You see daylillies will be the first to grow in summer, get thick enough to choke weeds on their own, HARDY, if appears destroyed – - they will be back, but will take over your yard without the cement underground ‘fence’. This gives romping without destroying yet still green. Fall you can just mow over them & see them return next year. Be creative. Put a ‘tree’ for potted plants to set in for your favorite flowers yet away from the ‘kids’.
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I’m running into the same issue with my dogs right now. What I’ve decided to do is separate the yard in to two sections a dog section and a people section. I want to be able to let the dogs out the back door but them not to be able to get on the grass, so I’m putting up a short fence. The dog area has pea gravel which makes cleanup after them easy and doesn’t get them dirty even after it has rained. I have friends who have used the same concept by making a dog run, a self contained long stretch for the dogs to be able to run back and forth. I would rather that when the dogs are in the back yard around the flowers and other stuff that they be a little more supervised so they don’t dig or end up chasing a squirrel, cat (we’ve got some neighborhood cats) or other critter so keeping them out of trouble as much as possible helps with my piece of mind. Hope this helps
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3 dogs rat terrier, terrier mix and a german shepherd, they seem to like it.
I agree with Jonathan S above. But one thing I know from experience is that dogs like to make paths around the yard. They will have these little dirt paths of their favorite routes around and across the yard. If you end up landscaping the yard, you need to keep these paths open. Consider looking into a hardscaping (rock or something similar) on these paths that will stand up to the dogs feet. My parents have a people yard and a dog yard. The dog yard has trees (natural oaks) and leaf litter and grass clippings on the ground. It ain’t pretty, but the dog knows it’s his place to use the bathroom where he wants and by leaving the leaves and then dumping the grass clippings, there is no mud. The dog gets to go in the people garden, but only under supervision. He also has a cemented patio with a large dog house with sawdust inside. He loves that place. So do our cats, and sometimes we catch them sharing it.
References :
Try cactus. The dogs will not tear it up. The sand around the cactus that you use to cover the mud will mike pooper scooping easier. Some cactus are very beautiful and come in many varieties, sizes and colors. It would go great with rocks and your stone patio. Dogs have a natural instinct to stay away from prickly plants.
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