If I manage to gather any money together, can anyone advise on what I could replace the grass (or rather mud!) in my garden with?  It needs to cope with 4 large dogs and be easy to pick poo up from!  I need the cheapest options that will be practical and look OK - or am I living in cloud-cuckoo land?!

Gravel is what I've always gone for.

Gravel is fine so long as its notright outside your back door otherwise you end up constantly sweeping it up as when they come in with it in their paws! 

And DONT use pea gravel, anything below 14mm down is too small and it kicks everywhere, gets walked into the house, you pick it up with the pooh etc etc.
And make sure if you gravel use a decent semi permiable membrane NOT Plastic, even if it builders plastic. as this perashes and does not let the water away. also Dont be tempted to just throw the gravel on the earth or grass, without membrane as the weeds will grow through, the mud will come through and you will be worse off than you are now!!!!
Anything you need to know just ask ;)
Lea :)

Lea ....HELP ME !!! :D :D

We are looking for the same solution LOL ...3 Malamutes + Half a garden (rest is patio) + wet weather over the past few months = BOMB SITE :D

Four golden retrievers and one garden (on clay soil) just doesn't work.  I've tried partitioning bits off at a time so some can 'rest' but all that happens is the whole lot turns to mud.  It's actually been under water recently so the poor grass hasn't got a chance. 

I've taken the drastic step & have had my garden completely slabbed! There is a digging pit for molly to bury her bones & soil around the tree that she wees on! The slabs can be hosed down, so kept nice & clean. Best thing I've ever had done...looks good too ........& no grass cutting & no weeding for me!

We did that for 2 terriers. Half slabbed the garden with 2x2 slabs. It looked drab but worked brilliantly :)
The dogs had ruined the grass and were digging out all over the place,
It was the most expensive dog area we have ever planned and constructed ;) ;)
Lea :)

Ah well Mel, as I am pretty sure on the neighbours side of your garden there are already gravel boards, you need to gravel board the other 2 sides, to stop the gravel migrating(although may already be done due to 3 escape artists!!!, scrape off the soil so that the gravel can sit 1 1/2 - 2" below your patio, may be able to be spread on rest of garden or levelled over fence ;) and then ask a freindly landscape gardener near you to supply you with membrane and 14mm flat gravel (The best kind for that situation and can get it around here ;) ) and hey presto ;) ;)
And to everyone else, thats sort of the advice I would give you, But go to builders merchants for gravel and Semi permiable membrane, it worsk out cheaper!!!!
Lea :) :)

I've always wanted artificial grass and it appears to be reasonably priced at around £10 - £13 square meter however when I got a quote to monoblock my driveway and put artificial grass down where the real grass currently is it came to just under £10,000 Needless to say I haven't actually got it done yet :D

And the grass is £10-£13, and it is really good, I have seen it and spent a long time talking to the guys from the ALC at a trade fair, strong and almost dig resistant, but unless you are good at levelling ground and know what you are doing It would not be a good idea for a lay man to lay it ;) So it will work out more expensive than that. you also need ALOT of sand to go ontop of it as well so that has to be thought of on the cost.
They told me how they put it down for someone who had dogs that would keep escaping under the fence. The people tried everything including gravel boards dug right down but they would still escape and were being threatened by the council with being PTS, this company put the artificial turf down, attatcted it to the gravel boards up the fence so made it like a bowl, afixed boards on top and hey presto. The dogs didnt get out again.
If your thinking of going for it the best idea is to ring tjhem up and discuss your needs with them, they are very helpful, I think I was talking to them for 1/2 hour!!!!
HTH
Lea :)

We're moving in two weeks time and tomorrow work starts to change our new garden to a huge patio! :-D

The whole area will be paving slabs with brand spanking new kennels for the Mad Mutts!  It will be their late Christmas present.

Sadly we worked out the total cost of moving 3 dogs = over £3k

But as they say on the ads..... They're WORTH it! :-) 

NO MORE MUD!!!! BLISS :-D

Lea you will HAVE to come around to my house ;) The person that did our half patio (our ex neighbour :rolleyes: ) was a right cowboy :(

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Um That isnt the word I would use for him.
My 8 year iold son could have done a better job than he does ;)
We have relaid one of his patio's and it had 6" of Sand under it!!!! And that was for his COUSIN!!!! So dont worry you werent the only one to fall foul to him, and he didnt make sure he did a good job for friends and family either ;) The ones he has done for customers are as bad if not worse!!!! So glad he gave up and doesnt do it anymore ;)
Lea :)

I've thought about artifical grass for my two gordons.  My only concern is with them slipping.  I can still remember the burns from playing hockey on astroturf!  Does anyone have any experience of dogs on artifical grass?  does it get slippy after its been raining?  My only thought is possible damage if they slip as Gordons are very slow growing. 

Any thoughts?

Jill

From the samples we have, the feel of the sample areas we looked at and the explanation he gave us it is just like real turf, and as I say it has laods of sand on it so that helps tracktion on the feet, So I dont think it will be any different from slipping on normal grass.
I am ONLY commenting on the ATC no other company as I have had no experience of other companys.
Also I have not had it firsrt hand (I wish I could afford it!!!)
Oh and I believe, thining back into the depths of my brain, they supply the grass looking stuff at crufts, so it shouldnt be too slippery :)
HTH at least a bit
Lea :)

But I have enough trouble with hoovering my house - blow having to hoover GR hair off the "grass" :D

At the moment I am constantly wiping the dogs feet when they come in the kitchen then cleaning kitchen floor before letting them into living room,which is now newly laminated.

I just pray when then pups are old enough to go outdoors that we have some cold DRY weather, as wiping 14 sets off puppy feet, countless times a day has me having nightmares.

The dogs area is 2/3rds deteriorating concrete and an area of grass/earth with a lot of rubble in it and of course clay.

I go around it regularly poking holes down with a metal rod where the water etc puddles to help it drain, but at the moment there is a lot of standing water.

Right n the middle of it is a huge slab covering the main drain for half the street.

I would love to have the area concreted/slabbed with a drainage channel straight into the drain for cleaning, and a proper manhole for the drain.

But first the drain wall needs repairing and building up.  Hard landscaping is so expensive and you need to know that the job will be done right.

We slabbed the back garden a few years ago because it had started waterlogging every time it rained, turns out it was because *&^$%&* next door neighbour had taken the end off his (huge) shed troughing and it was all pouring into our garden, he'd also concreted his garden with drainage slope towards our garden    OH took six months digging out a soakaway and drainage channel, lowering the garden by 18 inches and slabbing it.  But with the borders and tubs it looks lovely and poo picking is a doddle :) :)

And then *&^%^)* neighbours moved as well :D :D :D

Brainless,

I have a cotton rubber-backed bath mat at the back door for general wiping of dogs feet but in the very wet weather I add another cotton bath mat to extend it and then leave them in the porch for a few minutes to dry underneath, as they're locked in the back porch they usually lie on the mats and then when they come in they're dry enough with a quick towel down  :D :D

Still have to train OH to do the same LOL

Yes I need a few more mats as the ones at back dor gie too short a lenght to get the feet befre hey ahve over run it.  I need another at the kitchen livign room door and one linking the two doors.

I do try and field them in one at a time onto the mat and wipe feet.

LOL

I've found that if they run over it at speed, as is usual if it's wet out :rolleyes: then the longest mat in the world wouldn't work, their feet don't touch it for long enough.   Ten minutes in a warm back porch snuggling on the mats seems to do the trick tho ;) :D

Although my garden is now paved, there are still wet paws! From a pup I have always said to my dog 'Molly paws' & she stands still & waits for each paw to be wiped.She even lefts her fronts paws up one at a time now! I suppose after all these months she knows no different!

I have always fancied those pavers with holes in to grow grass through. They keep the area reasonable soggyless! but look OK when the grass is growing but I think they are expensive to lay. So we have half and half pavers and grass and we fence off the grassy bit when it is really wet. My girls will pee and poo on the slabs so its easy to keep the area clean with broom and the power spray, areas of raised planters and lots of pots  stood on gravel raised beds make it look nice all year round. But when pups are about I find Bernese very accomplished re-potters of plants!! they just forget to do the re bit of the re-potting?

Our  dog yard is completely paved and enclosed by high fencing and hedges - to brighten it up in the summer I hang flower pouches full of cascading geraniums at the top of all the fence posts and have large hanging baskets at each corner of the kennels. I also hang wall baskets along the house and on the sheds and plant thses up with fool proof stuff like Surfina 'Million Bells' and 'Bizzy Lizzies'
I have also grown a Clematis Montana along the side wall of the house and trained it along the fences which looks lovely when in flower - it is a real thug of a plant and will cover EVERYTHING if left unchecked but is ideal for the dog area. I have nothing at ground level though as my boys would just wee in any pots and kill the plants.

It looks a bit boring at this time of the year but quite bright and cheerful from May onwards and is a doddle to water as I just give everything a good soaking when I clean out the yard.

Yvonne

I want to get an artifical lawn put in - there is a company called nomow which will instal it for you - god knows what it costs but need to do something - 4 greyhounds tearing around (my father-in-laws two are with us at the minute) = lots of mud and no grass! Have tried keeping them to the large fenced off patio area by the back door, which I also want to repave for easy hosing and put in a nice kennel (thinking Reeves or Canine Kennels) for them while they are out and about in the summer, but they love chasing each other around the grass, and with kids potentially in the offing in the next few years need something soft and safe. The company are going to give me some details of lawns nearby that I can go and look at - OH is not convinced but he's not the one wiping muddy paws all the time! Have had lots of samples from ALC, evergreens, asgoodasgrass, etc and they seem quite convincing, but definately would prefer to have it professionally installed I think.....better keep doing the lottery....

There is a strip of artificial grass in our local playing field - put in for the cricketers I think - and I often use it when training the dogs - it's so much more pleasant for me and them than the muddy real grass surrounding it.
So - we're now seriously considering adding a small area in our back garden - we gravelled it two years ago because of the mud, but my Luke isn't that keen on the gravel - he tends to walk carefully down the stepping stone path we put down the middle :rolleyes:

We have our garden seperated  by a fence and gate from the dogs area which is wonderful especially during this time of the year or even in the spring /summer when it has been raining it saves the grass and makes cleaning up after the dogs a lot easier .
The dogs can  play in  the garden when I allow them too and they get sooo excited they enjoy it so much more .
We have quite a large garden and I realise not everyone has the space to do this but if you can it is well worth it.

Roni

We have divided our garden into two, one part the lawn & shrubs which is fenced off and we can let Jasper in if we decide it's not too wet.  And like your dogs Roni, he gets very excited when he is allowed in :P

The other half near to the house is now all patio and tubs, with an area behind a hedge which has gravel for his toilet:rolleyes:

The house is so much cleaner than when it used to be all garden and the garden is no longer a mud bath :D
Maria

Hi,
I Did the same this Summer replaced the grass or mud with the constant rain we keep having,
I have had it block paved Hubby did it first time he had ever done one. Kept one flower border, Four bricks high. All my plants and roses put in it, We also invested in those concrete drains, you buy them complete
Aprox 3foot long with grind on the top about 6ins wide. so when we move the poo and water guns it down,
It is GREAT no mess NO smell Dogs run about never get mucky. " I have sammys as you know they are white" They were constantly bathed foot wiped all the time a nightmare this weather. Never looked back.
Dont know why I never done it years ago. Still looks good with the patio set on, great for barbies as well.
But! check round for the price of the bricks, they vary an awful lot.
Regards
Denese

With having the main drain in the dogs are that is what I would be looking for to chamel it straight into the drain.