OK, before we got our GSD bitch we had a nice garden. We had a nice lawn. Nice plants. It was nice.
Since having her - she is now 11 months old - the garden is an absolute state. We have no grass left after the track marks that developed from her running up and down have kind of spread, along with the help of her digging, burying 'precious things' and pulling up plants (thank god I checked all the plants I bought were non-toxic to dogs!), so our 'lawn' has turned into one massive area of bare soil. We have one remnant of our lawn, which is in an area she hasn't been able to run on (being in a very far corner of the garden, which is now lush and green and seems to be mocking me when I look at the rest of the bare, dull soil that makes up what is my garden at the moment.
Now, our garden isn't huge, being a typical victorian terrace garden with everyone having the same length and width of garden in one long strip, but currently it is in three sections. The first section was grass, with paving stones as stepping stones along it, and you absolutely have to walk on this section to get to the other parts of the garden, so there is no option to plant grass seed or lay lawn here and not have it walked on unless I can train my dog only to tip toe on stepping stones.... The second section was also lawn, which is now bare soil with holes in it from digging, and the third section at the end is a patio with trees which arch over it, and it is a lovely space. We are having an extention built in the next few months so I am not wanting to do anything with the garden just yet as it is going to be traipsed over by builders and building equiptment, but after that is done I really need to think about what the hell I am going to do about this garden, as we want to put the house on the market in the new year to move somewhere bigger so we can have a second dog (hooray!)
Now, I really need ideas from you guys. I was keen on trying to lay lawn again but my partner is dead against it, as after all the preparation we went though to lay the first lot (the turning over of the soil, pulling out all roots and weed, fertilising it with lawn fertiliser etc.) only to see it ripped up or worn down has left him utterly against going through all that again. He wants to patio the second section and woodchip the first, but I am convinced woodchip will stink if my girl pees and poos on it. I am in a quandry as my bitch won't wee or poo on concrete or patio or any hard surface, so I haven't a clue what I am going to do about this garden. We don't want to patio the whole lot if we can help it, as even with pot plants and a garden border we are worried it might end up looking like a 'concrete jungle' so to speak, and might put people off, but I haven't a clue what to do. I have looked into grass seed, and have found a supplier which produces a tough grass suitable for heavily trafficked gardens (such as dog owners gardens), but it is unlikely it will ever grow with my girl running around, and as well as that I am living in a hose-pipe ban area so we wouldn't be able to water it, and all lawns whether seeded or turfed would need a lot of watering. What do I do, and what solutions are there for dog owners who also would quite fancy a nice garden as well??!

Could you fill the nearest, barren area, with large beach pebbles?  They're relatively inexpensive and lots of soft pastel colours.  You need to put a weed proof membrane under them first (why do weeds still manage to grow despite our canine characters best endeavours to kill all greenery )   I have these and they look pretty with a little random greenery around.

I have tree bark in another section of my garden - again with membrane under it - it's occasionally used by the brood to relieve themselves but not often and doesn't smell but may well do if regularly used (I hose mine with the power washer ;) ).  What I don't like about it is the youngster is always chewing pieces (ensure there is no cocoa mulch in it of course- very toxic to our furry friends) so I'd not go down that route again but it's a cheap alternative to other things as you're planning on moving on.

A few large deep pots will brighten up the area and give it more buyer appeal.

HTH, Teri :)

Hi A

We gave up lawns years ago :D

We have it decking, patio and gravel with loads of pots and planters :)

Hope all is well with you ! We must catch up and see how bad we have been :D

Lucy
xx

LJS, I have been naughty. Yet again a new dawn begins tomorrow! I had a huge row with my partner so we had a chinese meal out yesterday as a truce, and I ate like there was no tomorrow! I am exercising more now though, which I am very proud of, but I need to cut out the calories at the same time!

Well, thanks for the advice all of you. I think I will go for the pebbles idea actually, as we have a load of them out front and they do look nice, and I will just have as many potted plants about as possible to provide the greenery. I will have to get my girl used to peeing on pebbles and patio. One thing though, what is the best way to clean these surfaces, as a big dog peeing a few times a day is going to create a stink unless cleaned away. What is the best non-toxic thing to use, and what will stop the smell developing?

love xxx

http://www.bactonature.com have safe, purpose made product to combat odours :)  In dry weather I hose them down but find we don't get too many lengthy dry spells ooop north :rolleyes:  However using the bactonature to rinse down regularly used areas does the trick!

regards, Teri 

That sounds great. Once the builders are out i will buy some!

Cheers x

Don't wish to put a possible damper on your choice of pebbles, which would look lovely, but my brother has 2 GSD's both used to grass, when he like yourself got fed up of 'No' grass, he also pebbled and flag stoned, it looked lovely, but his dogs absolutely point blank refused to go in the garden, both of them would relieve themselves in the house rather than go outside, my brother was most upset as they were housetrained from small pups, but just would not get used to the new garden.

In the end he was advised to put down woodchip instead, so he painstakingly pulled up all his pebbles and laid down the chip instead, the dogs used it and he has not had a problem since.

Once the dogs were over 3, he then went back to grass and has a beautiful lawn again, but also with woodchip, which they still prefer to toilet on, it is what I use too, the woodchip does not smell at all by the way.

It may have just been a problem his dogs had so don't take it as gospel, but thought I had better mention it, incase it is a GSD or 'grass brought up dog thing' before you spend your money.

Hey, that's good to know. I am still tempted by grass. There is something nice about seeing grass in a garden, but I am worried it will be another waste of time. My bitch actually prefers to toilet out on walks as opposed to in the garden (so I suppose I am very lucky in that respect) but for weeing in particular she needs the garden to be inviting for her to go. I think I will have to think very, very carefully about my options before we decide what we are going to do. Thanks for letting me know though, it is a good piece of anacdotal info.

cheers x

i have wood chip as i get it free from our local tree shredder man and its fine, needs topping up every year or so. our dismal patch of lawn is thin and useless as dog still prefers to wee on grass but will poo on woodchip which is easy to pick up.

I have a large area of gravel at the back with a 3ft border containing established shrubs in it,I did it as I didn't have time to mow the back lawn after my son left home. I then grow everything else in various size tubs and pots,by trial and error it's surprised me what you can grow in a tub provided you use the right size.

If the dogs do dig they hit the heavy duty membrane underneath and it's ease to put the gravel back. All I can advise is don't buy too small a gravel as it sticks in the grooves of your shoes and gets tramped into the house,this was told me by the firm I was buying it from,I'd not even thought about that side.

Good Luck with what ever you decide

How about having the first section, nearest to the house, paved with pots etc, so that she doesn't toilet in that area and any smell won't be near to the house, then the second area bark chippings where she can do her business. Or you could train her to toilet in a certain area.

An aquaintance of mine who has three large white GSDs gave up on her lawn too - she laid astro-turf in the dogs area and all is well.  I did however catch her hoovering the turf the other day, as the dogs were moulting and the turf looked more like a giant brush covered in hair :-)

Ha! I know how she feels! Our back garden is coated in hair after we groomed my girl outside the other day. The birds must be loving it for nesting material, but it looks like someone has gone wild with a pack of cotton wool out there!

Thanks toall of you for the ideas. I think we will patio the first section of garden, but I am going to have to really draw up a plan and see what re-training I can do in terms of getting my girl to toilet on other surfaces but grass.

Thank all!

I have woodchip, which when first laid down the puppy liked to chew.
I have pebbles which the, now adolescent, dog likes to chew.
I have lawn that the dogs likes to dig, preferably when flooded for maximum body painting with mud. And of course to kill with his toxic wee (what do I feed him).
Am trying to teach him to wee on the dandelions with no success ;-)

My solution to the digging is going to be a digging pit for him in the back of the garden (I know, still promising after 6 months but the front is re-landscaped now). If you like the grass maybe a digging pit would provide enough relief to get some green going.

we tried the digging pit idea.... she just likes to dig anywhere but the digging pit... :rolleyes:

Luckily my dogs rarely dig, and the brown circles from wee grow back lusher and greener than before if simply left alone. :)

how do you use grass seeds? do you just sprinkle them on the bare patches and water?

im not green fingered as you can probably guess!

Best to scratch the surface first, then water, then sprinkle seed, then lightly water again. For small patches you could then cover them with clear polythene to stop the birds eating the seed, removing the polythene when the seed's germinated. :)

Yes, that is what you do.  They often come with an added fertiliser.  Trouble is when it is dry they tend to just lie there ungerminated.   Watering by cans is onerous and by hose is antisocial so all in all learning to live with transient bare patches is often the most practical solution :)
You can tell I am not the gardener that the others are can't you? :p

If you're doing patches chrisjack, it's best to clear away any dead grass and rake the earth a little first, then sprinkle the grass seed and cover with a small amount of earth/compost to stop the birds eating it, then water and if the weather is dry, keep watering. :)

thank you! maybe renting a nice house on outskirts of town- lovely house but garden is patchy- dont know why i'll bother though because my dog will just dig it all up anyway!!lol

You rather got swamped by advice there :D  Yes, dogs and lawns don't tend to mix well!

We only have two dogs, but they have minimal effect on the garden, thank goodness - just the poos to clear up :D :D

Daisy

My 2 OES wrecked the grass.  I've now put down artificial grass as sold by the Artificial Lawn Company at Crufts in 2003.  Been down now for 2 years and it's FAB :).  Looks like the real stuff.  My neighbours asked me why my lawn looked so good in summer when hers was scorched and brown.  I just hoover it every few weeks, and to get rid of any pee smells, I just throw over a few hanfuls of biological washing powder, hose it down and then sweep it off - job done!