dogs vs lawn

[citygirlinthecountry]

My dogs have torn up the grass in the back yard. Normally I don't care, but it's been a wet winter so far and shows no sign of stopping. I'm tired of the mud being tracked all over the house!
Anyone know of grass that will grow even with dog traffic on it?
thanks!
CG

 

[patandchickens]

I can tell you that with horse pastures/paddocks, the key to having the grass hold up under horse hooves is to get the soil and grass in as good condition as possible. You can't do anything about this right now of course, but start in spring. If you're on sandy soil you need as much organic material as you can manage to add to the soil. If you are on clay you need to physically loosen the soil, add organic matter, then prevent the soil from becoming compacted again. If you have shallow topsoil, it needs to be deeper. The fluffier the soil and the deeper and healthier the grass roots, the better the water soaks in (as opposed to becoming mud) and the better the grass resists damage.

Unfortunately to do these things you need to either do it very gradually over a number of years or rip your yard up, fix the soil, reseed and then keep the dogs off it for at least a full season to let things settle and take hold.

Improving drainage will also help, and is quicker to do. Reevaluate where downspouts etc go; see if a little creative treching may also help.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[citygirlinthecountry]

Hmmm... the worst is by the back door. I'm not sure I can keep the dogs off of it for a season. :/ Maybe I should put in a patio so the mud is further away from the back door.
I was hoping there was a particularly hardy grass seed that would sprout through anything!
Thanks for the help!
CG

 

[patandchickens]

Here is how you'd treat a high-traffic area in a horse paddock:

Put down shredded bark or wood chips near the back door for now - it will cover/absorb much of the mud, and foot traffic will help munge it into the soil where it will slowly break down to add organic matter. When things are drier in spring (or fall if necessary where you are), till the area (the grass will be largely smothered by the wood chips anyhow), amend the soil, fix the drainage, and reseed. Keep the dogs off the new grass while it gets going (put boards down to make a path, and temporarily fence off the rest). Or, instead of reseeding put in a more dogproof footing like pavers or permanent wood chips (replenished whenever needed).

Trying to fix the grass type while leaving the underlying soil problems 'as is' won't give a very satisfying fix, unfortunately.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[peeps7]

Bermuda does well but it is a pain in the butt to get out of your gardens.

 

[citygirlinthecountry]

Yeah, the stupid burmuda is growing like crazy in the garden and flower beds, where I don't want it, but won't even begin to grow in the backyard. Stupid burmuda grass.

Great ideas, Pat! I have pine straw I can add to the dirt for now to help keep our little paws cleaner. I'll start looking for wood chips tomorrow. Sawdust would work, wouldn't it?
If spring ever gets here, I'll till it all up and reseed. I maybe can do half and half so the dogs can still come and go. I do think maybe I should do more pavers right by the door. I'm not sure that grass will ever grow there given the amount of traffic it gets. The dogs are 50lb boxers and one of them is a huge digger. Cute, but destructive!

Thanks!
CG

 

[patandchickens]

Pine straw for now then (soon) wood chips to cover sounds good!

I would stay away from sawdust since it will be til spring before you can do any serious reworking of the area, though. Sawdust is great for VERY short term water absorption, but it is so fine that it will very rapidly mix w/ the mud and start to break down, which will actually make *worse* mud! (deeper, suckier, slower-drying). Even shavings (the animal-bedding typr) really break down too quickly to be much use in mud remediation - need something coarser like wood chips or coarse-ish shredded bark.

Good luck,

Pat, up where we aren't going to have serious mud problems til April

 

[sebrightlover]

ah ha! Thanks for the tips!

Would it be the same for an area that has died because of dog urine? Or would you need to add other amendments?

 

[patandchickens]

ah ha! Thanks for the tips!

Would it be the same for an area that has died because of dog urine? Or would you need to add other amendments?

Nope, dog urine is a different problem altogether. The grass has died because of nutrient (mainly N) overload and sometimes a pH problem as well, both caused by being excessively peed upon. Of course it pretty much never hurts to do what you can to improve the soil structure (and the better the soil structure is, the healthier the grass, and the better it can 'take a joke'). But the dreaded "dog lawn-spot disease" is easily curable by the following simple steps:

1) Prevent the dog(s) from peeing there in future (!). Seriously!

2) If the dog(s) do pee on the lawn occasionally, flushing the area with water after they pee (assuming you live in an area where water is plentiful enough to 'waste' for this!) will help sluice the pee down through the soil as well as diluting it over a larger area. There are commercial products, too, that claim to mitigate pee spot problems if sprayed on or fed to the dog... I know nothing whatsoever about them, though.

3) Wait a season or two to see if the grass grows back on its own -- if it is casual rather than chronic damage it most likely will come back without your having to lift a finger (although raking, very light mulching and an occasional watering during a dry spell would expedite the process if you're looking for something to do).

4) If the dogs have been *really* peeing like heck, or if it's gone on for a long time, and you find that the grass won't come back on its own, rake the heck outta the area with a bow rake or something similar, to loosen up the top few inches of soil; sprinkle 'a little' limestone unless you are pretty sure pH is not a problem; and reseed the same way you'd do for any bare spot. (Reseed in a reasonable season for your area, with an appropriate non-low-end seed mix, keep properly watered, and keep traffic off the spot until the new grass is very well established).

You shouldn't have to actually replace any soil, since nitrogen does not stay resident in the soil for very long at all, although if you can't get seed to 'take' I suppose that'd be something to look into. I haven't actually seen that happen myself, though.

Good luck,


Pat

 

[sebrightlover]

thanks Pat ... its a chronic thing and its right off the patio block -- I guess if I follow the dogs out and "kick" the offender in the butt to make her go out further in the yard ... sometimes that doesn't work though

I will give it a good raking this spring, lime it and reseed then. Any harm in putting the mulch on it this winter to help reduce the mud?