Hi there

When I lived in the US, I was able to buy these supplements that you gave to your dog to neutralize the acidity of their urine. That way, when they peed on your grass it didn't die.

Husband and I just moved into a house with a HUGE garden and don't want our dog to spoil it with lots of yellow spots. But, I would like to keep his bathroom trips limited to our backyard, rather than finding a "safe" spot on our street.

Any pet owners know if I can get these here? Any other suggestions for treating the grass?

Thanks
Monkeynose

Back in Oz when I had 2 Rotties, the poorman's solution worked for me.

Yellow spots on the lawn are caused because your dog's digestive system is too rich in nitrogen therefore the high levels of nitrogen in the causes the lawn spots. That is because the nitrogen that burned the grass is too strong but the outer edges of the 'circle' of ended up with just enough nitrogen to help instead of hurt.

There are a few things you can do. If you are observant you can water over the spot where the dog has ed this will dilute the nitrogen and will be beneficial to the lawn. Set aside an area the dog can use as a bathroom where you don't care what happens. Fill it with shingle or just leave the grass there to get burned. Teach the dog to go in that one spot. This will take time and patience.

Alternatively a dose of one teaspoon to one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (depending on the size of the dog - mine were large pets) per day can correct the pH imbalance and could solve the problem.

The apple cider vinegar can be added to the dog's water or put directly on his / her food.

I have also tried this method which works with my pets. Take two tablespoons of tomato juice on the dog's food twice a day and it will have the same results.

The shelf product I used was Dog Rocks.

Sorry can't help you further over here ( got no pets here in CH at the moment ). This site might help.

Thanks for the coaching. We have a Vizsla - so not as heavy, but he's a 60lb dog.

I will try the cider/tomato juice method and see if it works! I'll also keep my eyes open for any supplements on that site.

I've read a couple of articles recommending adding clover to the lawn - apparently clover is more nitrogen tolerant, and hence more dog-proof than grass.

I need to reseed the lawn this spring, so I'm putting down a mix of a few different grasses and clover seed - we'll see if it stands up to the dogs, or not...

But the best long-term solution is to do as jrspet suggests, and train the dog to use a particular area.

We have this problem with one of our dogs as well. The vet said it was best not to add anything to her diet to change the pH of her urine. What we have found is that the "immergrun" in parts of our garden is not affected by her urine. The latin name for Immergrun is "vinca minor". There are several varieties and colours. It stays green all winter and blooms in spring. It requires very little work to maintain.

If you are going to put down rocks or stones in a special place for your dog, do consider adding additional drainage, otherwise unlike grass, the smell of urine will remain. You will want to hose down the stones.

Unless covered in snow, our dog will tend to go to her favourite spot in the garden. Even our other two dogs have their favourite areas in the garden.

We have also have to put down new seed this Spring as we dug out ivy, which was an absolute disaster for the dogs. They get all tangled in it not to mention what it does to the other trees. The immergrun doesn't have the same problems. Other options are "Waldsteinia".
I like this website for researching information about plants. (German only)
http://shop.garten.ch/cgi-bin/garten...&funktion=shop
They publish a book which is available at the garden centres for reference.

In my experience, many gardeners have little experience trying to accommodate dogs' needs into the garden. Many think dogs destroy the garden but in our experience, the dogs walking and running on the grass provides natural aeration throughout the year.

Mrs D,

Can vinca tolerate full sun?

Vinca - or a similar trailing groundcover - might be just the thing for a sloping area (designed as a ramp for my wobbly oldie ) where I just cannot get grass to grow.

Meloncollie,
Full sun should not be a problem though Immergrun does well in the shade. My neighbour has Immergrun on a slope in his garden that is south facing so plenty of sun and it is really nice. It has taken him a few years to get it really dense. I think you could try it for your dog, depending on how steep the slope is. Our dogs seem to do fine on ours though it is not nearly dense enough. I am going to take a few cuttings and put them in water. Three weeks later they will have roots and I can plant them. (at least that is what I have been told).

Why have you not been able to grow grass? Grass is a better ground grabber...the problem on a slope is cutting it.

I have my work cut out for me this Spring...sounds like you do too.

Vinca definitely grows in full sun. I have some in my garden to prove it but it does take time to thicken up.

My garden is on three levels - the first level we have laid in stone, from there we have steps leading up to the second level, which is grass. The second level is where the mutts like to play.

The slope I'm having trouble with is a 1.5 meter wide bit next to the steps. Full afternoon sun. This bit gets very heavy traffic, as the mutts race up there to get to the grassy area, rather than using the steps. I really can't block this bit off to give grass a chance to get established because my old guy cannot climb stairs, and this is the only way he can get to the next level under his own steam.

I thought that planting the area with ground cover might work - mature plants might have a fighting chance against the thundering canine herd, where grass seedlings have proven to be a lost cause.

Any landscaping ideas would be most appreciated.

So much to do in the garden this year... now if it would just stop raining long enough to get out there...

The problem with loose ground cover is the mud in wet weather and dust in very dry weather. And on a slope, erosion and paws might just tear up anything you plant. Instead of sowing grass seed, couldn't you lay turf squares on the slope? That way the grass comes ready established and you just have to keep it watered until the roots knit into the soil. This isn't cheap but if the area isn't too big it wouldn't be that bad.

You might have to keep the pets off for a while but you could maybe do in two stages, turfing most of the slope to begin with and then roping this off, leaving a thin strip at the side of the steps for the dog to climb up. Then do this strip afterwards when the rest of the turf has established.

Great idea, Nev!

Next question... any idea what turf/sod is in German?

(I tried variations on 'Rasenteppich', and the kid at the garden center burst out laughing. When I tried explaining further, he looked at me like I had two heads, and sent me to the display of seed.)

I think you need to ask yourself one simple question - what is more important, your dog's health or the state of your grass? The latter can be replaced at any time, but your dog is a unique creature, and his well-being should be your number one priority!

It is called "Rollrasen". Here is a company that supplies a product called "Rollturf Royal". I think I picked up the brochure at the garden centre near our house. They told me they can install if for me. I forget the price....I must have fainted when they told me. It is very tempting though...grass so quickly. I just wonder how long you have to keep the dogs off of it.
Here is the supplier.
www.ericschweizer.ch

We had to reseed a corner of the garden last year where we removed an old tree root. I put down the seed and a net to protect it but the birds still had a great time. Eventually the seed took but it seemed to take forever. Then we filled in another section, didn't use green mesh and the birds never went near it. It's fine, though a lot of clover coming through lately.

This Spring, if Spring ever gets here, we still have to reseed a large section that didn't take last year as it was too late in the season when we tried. We put a fleece on it to control the mud over the winter which has been really effective. Now I have noticed some grass coming through the fleece and when the weather gets better we will lift the fleece, add more seed, and then fence off the area to keep the dogs off so the new seed will take, I hope. The dogs will be mad. It's the part at the front of the house and they love to see what is going on- kids walking by, horses, other dogs. We are thinking we might seed in two stages so as not to frustrate the dogs so much.

We are still undecided about what to do with the immergrun since it is not dense enough to be nice. I would prefer grass but it's a slope. I just think grass will be easier for the dogs and not muddy in winter, which the immergrun is. So I will dig up the immergrun but not sure what I will do with it....perhaps at the front outside of our fence where everyone else's dog leaves a P-mail message. I know others put rocks around the lamp post, but it doesn't look very nice.

I hope you find a good solution.

Thanks Mrs D!

You know how you search for something here in CH for years with no luck... and then suddenly it's everywhere?

Today's Coop Zeitung has 'Rollrasen' (I'd never have come up with that on my own ) on special, CHF 19.90 per meter instead of CHF 27 at the Bau and Hobby. It's only a small area, and I can certainly lay it myself... so maybe I'll treat myself.

It would be nice to have some grass growing on the slope before mud season (as spring is known on the dark side of the Rossberg ) starts up.

I inquired as well at Coop Bau and Hobby about the special. It is on until April 25. Delivery to your home is included in the price, but no installation. But the minimum order is 40 m2 ! Right now it is too cold to lay it. Ideal temperature is a minimum 15 degrees I was told. It also needs a lot of water. I haven't even turned my outside taps back on! I asked at Coop who the supplier was-either the link I gave earlier www.ericschweizer.ch
or Hauenstein http://www.hauenstein.ch/Hauenstein/...rtigrasen.aspx

In the latter link there is quite a lot of information under "fertigrasen", certainly more than they were able to tell me at Coop. Looking at the photos I am not so sure it is a DIY job unless my rolling pin from the kitchen can be used.

I think I might just go with seed....

40m2 minimum - ouch! I only need about 8m2 to do the slope. So much for a good bargain.

Maybe I'll try to grow my own turf squares... I have lots of seedling trays, I may just start grass seed in those. If it works, I'd end up with squares of 40x60 for transplanting. It would look pretty patchy at first, but I could seed over to fill in - at least there would be something there strong enough to stand up to the mutts - and keep down the mud.

Ah the joys of gardening with dogs... wouldn't have it any other way, though.

Turfing is much more expensive than seeding and minimum quantity is a problem. I got round that by contacting a local gardening firm. They were quite happy to piggy back my little order onto a bigger landscaping project they were doing somewhere else and they laid the turf. It might be worth calling around.