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NEW LAWN

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2005
by DUNNSTER on April 10, 2005 04:30 PM
IM IN THE PROCESS OF SOWING A NEW LAWN AFTER ONLY ONE YEAR,APART FROM THE SO CALLED GARDENERS WHO BROUGHT TOP SOIL IN AND LAID TURF ON TOP STRAIGHT AWAY(LEAVING NO TIME FOR TOP SOIL TO SETTLE) MY PARTNER AND I HAVE A BITCH DOG AND FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND HER WEE CAN BE VERY DISTRUCTIVE TO THE GRASS. SO MY QUESTION IS THIS:- IS THIER A TOP TIP THAT WILL SAVE THE GRASS? UNFORTUNETLY THIS AREA IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT ROSIE(DOG) CAN GO IN THE GARDEN. ANY HELP OR ADVISE WOULD BE VERY GRATEFULLY RECIEVED. THANKYOU. ANDY.
by tkhooper on April 10, 2005 06:17 PM
Dog proof lawns

Here are some ideas I dug up

If your dogs usually use your lawn for relief, douse the area with a hose to dilute the effect of the urine soon after the fact. Dog urine is alkaline and contains concentrations of salts, so it throws the soil pH off a little. One thing you can try is to rake about an inch of compost into the area. The compost contains soil organisms that can help balance the soil biology and chemistry. Depending on the grass species, new growth may come into the renovated area, but you can always sow a little seed to get it going again.
Salt-tolerant groundcovers are those that thrive near the ocean or in alkaline deserts; they do well in full sun.

Have you considered allowing your pets access to just half of the yard? That way you can have an undisturbed lawn on one side at least. On the other half, you could build raised beds for ornamentals or vegetables using timbers, bricks or stone, and/or spread pea gravel or similar material on the ground for interest, so there would be no vegetation for the dog to disturb. Or rosies side could double as a zen rock garden. Consider also giving the dogs their own area and fencing it in while you enjoy the rest of the lawn.

What you can do to make it work depends alot on exactly how much room you have to work with. If you have enough space you could even do a simple half-hieght maze as a dog run with gravel between the hedges.

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by The Plant Doc on April 11, 2005 01:58 AM
The main reason why a dog’s urine will kill the grass is because it is comprised of almost pure nitrogen. It does little to mess with the pH of the soil, and combating the problem that way will not really do any good. Female dogs tend to destroy more grass then males because of the simple fact males like to mark their spots on trees, posts or anything else that is high. Females tend to have their urine concentrated into one area. Since urine is almost pure N and it is killing the spot by over fertilization (that is why the spots turn really dark green before dying) diluting the area with a good flush of water is the best bet, but this is an up hill battle. To each their own, but I have just written off a section of my yard as the dogs, and let it be. There are a few types of grass that are a bit more tolerant to dogs, but they are very coarse bladed and don't mix well into most lawns.

I wish I had better news for you, but I hope this helps

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Mike Maier
aka
The Plant Doc

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