Create the ideal garden for your dog.

Nice little blog from Katie Dillion on Gardens for dogs. 

Dog Owners: Maintain a Beautiful Yard with These Ground Covers, Grasses and Other Tips

by Katie Dillon

Dogs are certainly valuable family members but they sure can wreak havoc on a yard.

Your best bet is to install as much hardscape, like pavers, as possible, but with grass-loving kids at home and a desire for backyard color, this isn’t always a realistic option.

We’ll address issues commonly faced by dog owners, recommend grasses and ground covers, as well as provide a variety of tips for maintaining a yard that doesn’t look like it’s a dog’s home, too.

Common Backyard Problems Faced by Dog Owners

Nervous or protective dogs tend to wear paths along fence lines as they pace.

Whether it’s just for fun or another reason, dogs can and do dig up prized plants in a matter of minutes.

Brown spots in grass or stains on concrete appear frequently due to urine.

An inability to grow grass, ground covers or other plants may arise in high traffic areas.

 How to Find Plants that Are Safe for Dogs

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) maintains lists of plants that are toxic to dogs, cats and/or horses.

Check the list before selecting plants because if Fido started gnawing on a common calla lily, you’d find yourself with a hefty vet bill.

Dog-Friendly Ground Covers

Keep in mind that there is no truly pet-proof ground cover, but if you want one between stepping stones or in small backyard areas, these are good choices that will stand up to light or moderate pet and human traffic.

1. Silver carpet (dymondia margaretae)

The dymondia margaretae in the above photo gets trampled by children, adults, and a 70-pound dog on a daily basis in La Jolla, CA. It is also perpetually run over by scooters and tricycles.

This silver-green leaved ground cover sprouts yellow flowers in warm weather and grows low to the ground, so be sure to plant it exactly at the level you’d like it.

If planted in an area where the dog runs, expect it to look patchy, but it will do its best to survive.

2. Irish moss (sagina subulata)

This soft, mat-like ground cover can take partial or full sun and requires consistent watering that will need to increase with temperature.

Durable Irish moss grows about an inch tall and sprouts little white flowers in the spring and summer.

3. Elfin thyme (thymus serpyllum “elfin”)

This ornamental herb smells nice and is completely edible.

Elfin thyme grows to 2 inches tall and is a gorgeous addition to container gardens, where it cascades over the sides, as well as rock gardens.

Fido shouldn’t roll around in it, but it can handle some of his foot traffic due to its dense, hearty nature. 

It produces pretty purple flowers in the summer.

 

4. Miniature stonecrop (sedum requieni)

This tiny, lesser-known sedum (hence, no photo) can take quite a bit of foot traffic and reseeds itself, if damaged.

Tiny leaves form a tight mat with small yellow flowers appearing in the summer.

Buy it by the flat and use an inch or two of space at the most between plants, if you’re going to use it and need it to fill in an area.

Miniature sedum works well in drought-tolerant gardens.

5. Labrador violet (viola labradorica)

Labrador viola sure has a fitting name for the purpose of this article!

Use it as filler between stones, not larger scale applications, because it is slow to spread.

Native to Greenland, this plant does well in colder climates with purple flowers blooming in spring.

Labrador violet grows to roughly 8 inches tall and wide and can take daily, light foot traffic.

6. Snow in summer (cerastium tomentosum)

This relatively drought-tolerant ground cover grows well in full sun or partial shade.

Its hardiness makes it a more pet-friendly ground cover, however, consider using a plant border as it can be difficult to contain.

White flowers and silvery-green leaves mimic winter tones when they bloom in early summer, hence the name.

Snow in summer grows to 6 inches tall and is excellent choice for between pavers.

 

7. Winter creeper (euonymus fortunei)

The experts at Lowe’s like euonymus in yards with pets because it’s tough to destroy and can grow in either shade or sun.

Yes, that’s a cat, but evidently they love laying in euonymus, which can grow up to 6 inches tall.

Four Live Grass Options

No live grass is immune to brown spots and excessive play.

Dial down your expectations of a perfectly manicured, golf course-worthy lawn and consider these if you have a dog.

1. Buffalo grass

Buffalo grass is now marketed in places like Southern California as a low-water/drought-tolerant grass.

You can buy buffalo grass, as seed or in plugs by special order at many local nurseries.

Though the slender grass looks fragile, in fact, it is far from it and grows to 3 inches tall while requiring very little care.

2. Kentucky bluegrass

 

This grass can reseed itself and take high traffic, though its more suitable for cooler climates.

Kentucky bluegrass seed is also used to patch bare spots in other types of lawns because it grows quickly.

3. Tall fescue

UC Davis issued a report stating that tall fescue tolerates lawn burn from pet urine better than other grasses.

Because tall fescue is deeply rooted and has wider blades than other grasses, it can take serious traffic.

Reseed patches with Kentucky bluegrass as tall fescue is a slow-grower.

4. St. Augustine

Because St. Augustine grass has deep roots, this might be a good alternative if you have a dog who loves to dig.

This grass, however, will not tolerate high traffic or excessive pet urine.

Tip: If you catch pet urine quickly after it happens on the lawn, water it down to decrease the intensity of the brown spot.

Consider Artificial Grass: Pet Turf

If you don’t want to hassle with maintaining a live lawn, consider what many dog facilities are installing: pet turf.

Make sure your turf installer applies a deodorizer to help absorb pet urine odors along with a membrane to allow air circulation between the turf and base. Also, have the installation team add deodorizer to the top of the installation for added protection.

No need to worry about brown spots in the lawn or digging with synthetic pet turf.

And, no, pet turf doesn’t look anything like astroturf–it looks more like grass!

Tackle The Digging Problem

There’s no grass or ground cover that can survive a digging dog, so let’s discuss how to solve this tricky problem.

Dogs dig to find cooler soil when they’re hot, to chase the scent of a rabbit or other animal, when they hear insects below ground, when they’re bored, or if they are nervous.

Experts agree that a well-exercised dog is a calmer dog, therefore, a solution as simple as a long walk or two during the day just might bring digging to a halt.

If frequent exercise doesn’t get to the root of the problem, observe your dog to see if you can figure out a pattern.

For example, if your dog digs on hot days, make sure there is a cool bed available or watch to see if he or she digs due to separation anxiety on days that you are away.

Digging is more prominent in some breeds like terriers and dachshunds, so chronic diggers might just need a designated digging area in the yard.

Re-direct digging in forbidden spots to the designated digging area or a toy to play with.

Risks of Using Wood Chips

It’s inexpensive and easy to shovel cedar or other wood chips into an area for your dog.

Dog experts warn that wood chips can harbor fleas, give dogs splinters and some dogs actually eat them.

They recommend using pea gravel as an alternative to wood chips, but make sure the gravel is shaded, otherwise it can burn paws on hot days.

When using gravel with large dogs, make sure it’s not getting stuck between your dog’s paw pads.

 

General Dog-Friendly Yard Tips

Make sure there’s enough shade as well as a cool spot for your dog to rest, especially in order to prevent digging to cooler turf.

Train your dog to relieve himself in a designated area (we know, easier said than done).

Use natural pest control methods to avoid accidental ingestion of chemicals.

Tip:  When moving into a new home or getting a new dog, observe your dog’s behavior for a few weeks before investing in new plants or hardscape.

For example, if there are areas where he or she likes to pace, consider adding pavers or gravel there.

It is easier to maneuver around the dog’s habits than to start new ones!

Your Turn…

Do you have any dog-friendly backyard solutions to add?

Photo credits: dichondra, Flickr: Macleay grass man; snow in summer: Flickr, hunda; dog on wood chips: Flickr, Bad Apple Photography; labrador violet: Flickr, wallygrom; euonymus fortunei: Flickr, wallygrom

Katie Dillon

Katie writes La Jolla Mom, a lifestyle site focused on parenting, luxury travel, cooking with kids, home management and local happenings. When not traveling, she lives in the seaside community of La Jolla, CA with her 5-year-old fashionista, dog, and husband. Follow Katie on Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.

Is Red Thread attacking your lawn?

What is Red Thread?

Red Thread is a fungal organism that causes patches of turf to turn brown and produce strands of red threadlike material. Red thread can be unsightly.  In most cases, the grass will recover just fine when the temperature cools in the fall.

Why do you have Red Thread?

It is normal for lawns to get a mild dose of red thread when conditions are optimal. Red Thread is really a symptom of one or more of the following: improper watering, poor grass, poor soil or all of the above.

Improper Watering

The fungus thrives when the surface of the soil lawn is wet and the roots are dry. Water on the grass blades will cause red thread to get worse.  Also, watering too often will cause the disease to get worse.
Solution to Improper Watering:  Don’t water more than every 3 to 4 days and make sure to water in the morning or early afternoon only...so that the grass does not stay wet all night. Also, one or more liquid aeration treatments will help the water move down into the soil and can make the disease less severe.

Poor Grass

Red Thread is most severe on Perennial Ryegrass...which is also susceptible to a lot of diseases . Builders and landscapers plant a lot of Perennial Ryegrass because it sprouts quickly. 

Solution to Poor Grass: If you have a lawn that is predominately Perennial Ryegrass, Red Thread and other diseases will always be a problem. We highly recommend Seeding in the late summer to get some different more resistant types of grass in your lawn.

Poor Soil 

Newer lawns typically don’t have the most biologically active soil and are therefore subject to disease issues. The more biologically active your soil is, the fewer problems your lawn will have.

Solution to Poor Soil: Fertilising will gradually build soil biology and improve your soil and your lawns disease resistance. To speed the process,  consider a compost topdressing and traditional aeration.

What can you do now about Red Thread?

To help protect your lawn from Red Thread we recommend:

1. Don't water more than every 3-4 days...only in the morning or early afternoon
2. Clean off your mower in between mowing...bag clippings for awhile if Red Thread is severe
3. Feed your lawn organically (so you don’t kill the good soil organisms that fight disease-causing fungi)
4. Add resistant grasses (Super Seeding really helps)
5. Use a garden renovator product.
6. Topdress with compost in the Autumn to add beneficial biology

If you are anything like me, Basil is both a great ingredient and  one that you waste the most. So many times my old lady comes back from the supermarket with a "fresh" bunch which oftimes spends it's sad little life on the window sill in the kitchen until it dies. Though, every now and again, it makes it into the garden herb plot and either drops dead within a day or goes mental to the point where it begins to attack any passing wildlife or small local children. So here are a few tips to take care of this much loved herb.


Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is a member of the Lamiaceae family, known for outstanding aromas, and basil is no exception. The leaves of this annual herb have a high concentration of essential oils, making it a piquant addition to many various cuisines around the globe. What is the best way of trimming or pruning back basil plant leaves?

How to Trim a Basil Plant

Basil is grown for its flavorful leaves, which can be used fresh or dried. However, there is no comparison and fresh is better than dried. There are a number of different varieties of basil, with the most common being Sweet Basil used to make magnificent pesto sauce.
Basil is a very easy herb to grow and can be started indoors in flats or outside in the garden after the danger of the last frost has passed. Plant the seed no deeper than twice the length of the seed in a sunny exposure. Basil seedlings will emerge within five to seven days and can be thinned when they have two leaves. Transplant them 12 inches apart and keep the plants consistently moist.

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Basil leaves are quite delicate and barely bruising the leaf releases the aroma of the essential oils, which quickly begin to dissipate. Therefore, pruning basil leaves with care is a necessity.
You do not need to prune basil plants when they are still small; wait until the herb is about 6 inches tall before trimming basil leaves. The more often you prune the basil plant, the bushier and leafier it becomes.

As soon as flowers become evident, pinch them off so the energy in the plant stays diverted to foliage growth. If the basil plant is growing vertically, pinch the leaves from the top to encourage lateral growth. Use the pinched leaves or dry them, so there’s no waste. Basil grows quickly, so even if you don’t want to use the leaves right away (gasp!), keep trimming back the plant when it gets large and bushy.

To harvest basil, cut the herb back about ¼ inch above a node, 3 inches from the base of the plant.

Leave a few inches of leaves on the plant after pruning. You can be quite aggressive when pruning basil plants since, as already mentioned, they are rapid growers. Even after a major cutting back, the herb will be ready for pruning again in a few weeks.

Pinching or cutting back basil plants regularly encourages full, bushy plants. There is no mystery or exact science to cutting back basil plants. Trim a basil plant every two to three weeks and pinch off the flower buds as soon as you see them. Trust me, the plant loves this and it will only encourage more vigorous growth while providing you with plenty of fresh basil leaves to stretch those culinary wings.

We saw this blog from D.S. Venetta of BloominThyme, who lives in Central Florida and figured we should share it as it would be a great activity for the kids over the summer holiday. 


Bean Fort.
What? Do those two things even go together?
They sure do when you’re gardening with kids, that is. Children know how to have fun and that includes in the garden. From bugs to worms, seeds to harvest, kids can find joy in most anything. So why not when growing beans?

Building a bean fort is WAY fun and totally EASY. First on the list is building a framework for the project. You can use an existing fence fine, or build a fort completely from trellis material purchased from your local hardware store. Better yet, pull a few sticks together and make your own trellis! Enthusiasm 101.

Now I’m no engineer–but I do understand the concept of four walls and a door and that’s all you need to get started. Place your walls upright and secure together using twine. For added support, consider digging a shallow foundation or trench to root your trellis walls before tying the framework together. This will help to stabilize the structure.

Next up, the roof. More trellis material can be used as roofing, or perhaps PVC pipe. Both will need to be well supported due to their weight. If you build next to a fence, this is problem solved. If not, another idea you should consider is to weave twine across the top. It will allow bean vines to climb and crawl as directed and provide all the roof shelter you need.
Once your roof and walls have been assembled, your fort will look barren but beautiful. If you really want to get sophisticated, how about adding a weed paper bean fort floor? Now we’re talking!


To complete your project, plant beans every four inches around the base of your fort, and water in well, same as you would in your garden. Now, stand back and watch your fort come to life!

Once fully grown, your bean fort will become your very own private hideaway! Awesome. And more than beautiful, your bean fort will be edible.
Yep. Green beans will be hanging within your reach so you can pluck em, peel em, plop em in your mouth and enjoy a lovely meal in your new outdoor hideaway!

How’s that for having fun in the garden?

Many gardeners enjoy the competition of growing the largest vegetables and flowers - giant vegetables and flowers. It is truly amazing how large some of these giants will grow. I’m not talking about that baseball bat couget that hid out under the leaves. I’m talking about 100 pound cabbages and pumpkins that gain 25 pounds in a day. These giants take planning and care.

To seriously compete with the seasoned giant vegetable growers, you’ll need to put considerable effort into your soil, your choice of site and your gardening technique.

But to get you started having some fun growing giant sized vegetables, here are 5 easy steps toward success.

1. Choose the Right Seed  - This is the most important step, because some varieties simply grow larger than others. Serious giant growers will often seek out rare seeds to grow. You can start your own giant lineage by selecting a promising variety, like Atlantic Giant Pumpkin or Old Colossus Heirloom Tomato and then saving the seeds from your largest fruits for planting next year. (This only works with open-pollinated varieties, so steer clear of hybrids if you plan to save seeds.)
   You may have to do some research on varieties that dependably grow into giants, but the name usually gives it away, like Russian Mammoth Sunflower, that grows upwards of 17 feet tall.
   
   
   Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
   
   • Cabbage: Northern Giant Cabbage (100 lbs.)
   • Carrot: Japanese Imperial Long Carrot (12+ inches long)
   • Cucumber: Mammoth Zeppelin Cucumber (16 pounds)
   • Gourd: Giant Long Gourd (120 Inches)
   • Onion: Kelsae Sweet Giant Onion (One held the world record at over 15 lbs.)
   • Pepper: Super Heavyweight Hybrid Pepper (½ pound each)
   • Pumpkin: Atlantic Giant Pumpkin (400 to over 1000 pounds) or
   • Squash: Show King Giant Green Squash (400+ pounds)
   • Sunflower: Grey Stripe Giant Sunflower (2 foot heads)
   • Tomato: Old Colossus Heirloom Tomato (2+ pounds)
   • Watermelon: Carolina Cross (Giant) Watermelon (200 pounds) 
   
   
   

1. Give Them a Healthy Start - Beef up the soil your plants will be growing in before you even plant. Spread some compost the Autumn prior planting. If you’re serious about competing, you should have a complete soil test done and replenish any nutrients and micro-nutrients that might be lacking.
   
   Giant vegetables tend to grow in quick spurts, so they need lots of food. Slow acting organic fertilisers added at planting time will ensure that the food is there when the plant needs it. It will also make for a healthier soil and less pest problems.
    
2.   Water - Giant vegetables won’t be as tolerant of sporadic watering as the common garden vegetable would be - and even the common vegetable is touchy about not getting its one-inch per week. You have to provide regular deep waterings or your fruits will either languish or split. I recommend using drip irrigation on a timer that compensates for rain, so there are no slip-ups. Because as much as your plants need regular water, they don’t want to sit in wet soil.
3. Thin to Just the Best Fruits - The more fruits on your plants, the smaller they will be. If they have to compete for nutrients, they’re never going to be giants. So prune or pinch out all but about three of the largest, healthiest looking fruits. Later in the season, you might want to thin down to just one, but keep a couple of extras at the beginning for insurance.
   Don’t worry about too much foliage. The foliage is what will be feeding the fruits and helping them grow larger.
4. Keep Close Watch for Problems - Pests, diseases and cultural problems can move in quickly and ruin an entire crop, especially when there are only a handful of fruits to begin with. Check your plants daily and correct any problems immediately. Try and remove problems by hand, since using chemicals can disrupt the plant too. Hopefully since you’ve given your plants every advantage, problems will be few.

Now comes the hard part. You have to be patient. Look but don’t touch. Too much fussing with your plants is as bad as too little. Let them do what they do and just enjoy watching them grow.
If you find yourself addicted to growing giant vegetables, talk with the competitors at your local county fair. Some will be coy, but many are very open and generous with their knowledge. They’ll know who has the best seed and will be happy to discuss technique with you. There may even be a regional Giant Vegetable Growers organization in your area.