What type of lawn/groundcover will stand up to large dogs? (besides concrete)?

Question

I have two large labs and they have destroyed my back yard. The lawn wasn't very good to start with. I've tried zoysia plugs, they died. I tried over 50 pounds of grass seed, the baby grass didn't stand a chance. The dogs have developed running trails which are complete mud, then the mud gets tracked into the house.
I'm hesitant to sod because it costs so much and I think it will just get destroyed. TIA for any ideas!

It's a large backyard. Sectioning it seems to be the way to go. RIght now the entire yard is fenced with chain link, as well as with an underground wire (labs were digging underneath the physical fence). My only concern with using pea gravel, doesn't it get hot during the summer? Thank you everyone for the great ideas!

Karen

Answer 1

WHERE DO YOU LIVE -- SNOW COUNTRY, Just Cold country, moderate climate (doesnt drop below 35f normally, 40f usually), semi-trop. 50f to 80f, or tropical 60 to 95f ? If you live in a semi to tropical area I would put down about 4" of crushed granite! It is "soft" enough to "give" if the dog lies on it and would be cool for them (dogs will circle round & round and push aside the hotter top layer and lay in the cooler under lying granite). It won't turn to mud and they'll shake most of it off b4 entering the house. It's clean and can be vacuumed easily. It can be raked to look nice too. Dogs will also only "go" in one place with granite too, leave a 10'x10' space way back as far from the house as possible not covered with granite (box area in with 1x6 green pine boards buried to w/i 1" of the surface of board), train them to "use" that area & buy one of those doggie septic systems on-line. You can keep BMs shoveled into & keep odors null. Surround that area with a 5' hedge for privacy -- your and fido's!
You may be able to use this same granite in cold climates, but call a local kennel and see what they do, call several as there are some dumb kennel owners !!!

Answer 2

Tall fescue does stand up somewhat in shady areas. I have two half-lab, half- st bernard, so I can relate. Bermuda grass in our sunny areas seems to do ok as well, but in either case you will have the trails you won't be able to fix. If you lay something down they don't lke, they will make new trails. I have about 1/2 acre fenced like you do, the fescue does do ok, but certainly doesn't look as well as when we had smaller dogs! Can't tell any problems with the bermuda other than where they make trails.

No doubt you would need to section off your yard to keep them out if you want to get anything established, you might also try putting down poultry fencing in some spots that are really tore up, to keep the erosion down. Good luck; big dogs and beautiful lawns don't work together.

Answer 3

My dogs loved their new pea gravel yard. It was clean, comfortable to lay on, since all three did it a lot. They didn't like to dig in it, it was easy to clean up after them. If you put down a good bed of 3-4" you wont have to add any more for a long time. But eventually you'll need to as the pebbles will seep into the soil.

I was dead set against gravel but finally gave up and then was mad at myself for not putting it in sooner.

Because this was my front yard, I was concerned about the appearance. I bought a select few boulders to sit on top of the gravel. It looked so appealing, I cannot tell you. I ended up putting spot lights on the boulders and wow. the whole thing looked like I'd spent a fortune, and I think it came to about $200.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Large dogs need large runs. In my experience the dogs will run along a fence whereever they can see (or hear) the neighbors, and other interesting things. If you want a grass lawn you may have to fence it off so the dogs cannot trample it. You don't say how large your yard is, so I don't know if this is possible.

Answer 6

nicely Iams isn't probable that stable. neither is technology food plan, Eukanuba, Purina, professional Plan, or any food market producers. those meals will now and back even have corn using fact the 1st factor and that's amazingly annoying on your canine to digest. This ends up in a canine that has a lifeless coat that poops lots and scents relatively undesirable while he does. you choose for to look for a food that has meat food listed interior the 1st few components. My famous is Canidae. No corn, 4 human grade meats. stable stuff and my canine loves it!

Answer 7

if you just want a ground cover you can use blue rug juniper or if you are set on grass you can try rebel supreme grass seed you will just need to walk your dogs for awhile instead of just tossing them out in the yard. any plant needs time to develop

Answer 8

How about using hardwood mulch (shredded or chips) on their running trails... also, dogs can be trained to go potty in one mulched or sanded area... as for planting new grass.. dogs will have to stay off of new plants or use sod to withstand dog traffic

Answer 9

Well, I was going to suggest astroturf, but really, pea gravel sounds very practical. Still, if you really WANT something green... Dogs and grass just don't go together.

Answer 10

A local nursery may have some good ideas.