Crime and Criminal

This here is the crime:


And this here is the criminal responsible:


Last summer, my lawn was lovely (all that rain!). We had sown a large area from scratch, and it looked great. Now it looks terrible. The question is, what should I do about it? Reseed the bad patches? Or will it repair itself when the weather improves? If I do reseed, do I need to keep the dog off or will the seed come up even when it's walked (pounced) on? Is it too cold to bother reseeding at the moment (it's nice and wet though)? Which is the best month for repairing a worn lawn? Also, I have quite clay-y soil in parts. If I top dress with sharp sand for drainage, do I need to reseed later? Or beforehand? Or can I do it at the same time?

So many questions, so little clue. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Aw poor Rosie, named & shamed :D

Can't help you, you should see the side part of my house. More mud than lawn! I have one of those criminals...

cheers

 

I would just chuck some seed on the bare patches and learn to put up with having to do it on a regular basis. :D :D

 

Looks to me like an established doggy right of way so can't be classed as a criminal act, do as David says and enjoy the dog and the garden.

 

OK, I'll try and reseed the bare patches and see what happens. The trouble with the mud patches on the lawn is that it leads to muddy paw prints in the house, which leads to hours and hours of tedious cleaning. When will the ****** dog learn to mop the floor??

So, is it OK to reseed now, or is it still too chilly?

 

Oh Rosie who could call such a sweetie a criminal?

Its a sorry state of affairs but really nice gardens don't mix with children or pets no matter how well they behave, it's one of those blessed curses most of us puts up with just a smile.

As for your floors let me know if you manage to train your pooch to mop up your floors..... I'm pretty sure you could make millions if you manage to do that feat! :D Hel.xxx.

 

Originally posted by Rosiemongrel:

Ain't no gain without pain. You obviously love your garden but you also love the '****** dog'. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. We learned to laugh at it. Of course the bank manager didn't when Ed was in the chewing phase of his life.

Agree Helen. :D

 

Hi there, my lawn looks like that all over thanks to my pooch. I was wondering the same thing, I have bought some seed however I am not sure what to do - what does top dress mean? Is it just a sprinkling of compost over the top or do you cover the lawn entirely? and when is the best time to do it?

Love EGW

 

I will certainly let you know when I have trained her to mop. I am also trying to get her to get a job, so she can start to contribute to family finances, rather than leeching off us. So far, the results are not encouraging though! She is more interested in earning her living by sleeping for England :D

Re. the lawn. My plan is this: feed the lawn & kill the moss. Rake out the moss a few days later. Then I'll separate off the worst affected bits (with bamboo sticks and red&white tape) and reseed those. After 2 weeks, I'll let everyone back on. Hopefully, by redirecting the pooch in the garden for a little while, the lawn will recover and the seeds have a chance to germinate.

If someone could direct me to a previous thread on how to top dress, I'd be grateful.

 

we have all been there Rosiemongrel,she looks so innocent standing there personally i feel the best time for lawn seed is September,you have the heat plus the rain it grows in quick time then. welcome to GC Rosiemongrel

 

Rosie you could plant some lawnseed in a few seedtrays then jou can always patch bare bits j

 

Hi rosie
If this place is where your bitch squats ( thats a nice way of saying it). It is very hard/impossible to grow grass there. We had Cassie a blue rhone Cocker , sadly who passed away last year, she squatted in the same place every day and we could not get grass to grow there - now its fine. We do have a new dog in the family - Maya a black Cocker belonging to my daughter in law Pics of Cassie and Myah below....

 

Ahhhhhhh...aint she sweet ! Rosie, I`m pretty sure you can get like an `open` plastic(or rubber)mat that you could place there which the grass will just grow through. It`s barely visible when in place. Hope this helps. Cheers...freddy.

 

smiffy, how cute are they. bet you miss Cassie loads, i'm sorry. Maya/Myah looks sweet too.

My main piece (and i mean piece) of grass has some yellow patches in even though Joyce knows she's not to 'go' on there. She's supposed to use the side bit. But she sneaks on when hubby isn't looking, so funny :D Not that hubby thinks it is, well he does smile inside i know

freddy, never heard of that sort of mat. sounds a good idea.

cheers

 

What Freddy says, good idea. I use sections of fence mesh to discourage the terrierists. They tend to avoid the mesh and go another route, after a while I move the mesh around. In a few weeks, when the grass puts a growth spurt on, rake over the area and over sow with a mix of grass seed and sharp sand and water in. The muddy patches soon disappear. Now, dealing with molehills is a different story...