4 HARDSCAPES, PONDS, AND ODDS AND ENDS
We’ve looked at such items as decks, patios, fences, and ponds in planning for a new landscape, but here we’ll take a closer look at them and how they ft with your landscape and your dog. Considerations include design, materials, utility, maintenance, safety, and aesthetics. We’ll also discuss watering your plants, and how various irrigation systems may ft with your dog.
Decks
As already explained, a fenced deck can provide a ready-made dog run (though you probably want to provide somewhere off the deck for the dog to potty if he or she will be there for any amount of time). The materials used for decking are changing as this book is being written—the old arsenic-treated wood is being phased out in favor of less toxic copper-treated wood or wood alternatives such as Trex™. One drawback of wood decks—though to be sure, a temporary and infrequent one—is that you have to treat them with water sealer, which means keeping the dog (and the humans) off them for a day or two. You avoid this maintenance with the non-wood decking alternatives. The faux wood also proves less attractive for canine chewing, avoiding another potential dog-deck problem.
The one big potential hazard of decks results from the spaces between the boards (which must be left to give the wood space to expand and to let rain through). Dogs with tags dangling from their collars can lie down, have their tags slip between two boards, and then jam there, holding the dog fat to the deck. This is uncommon, but it does happen. You can avoid it by having an engraved plate as part of the dog’s collar in place of dangling tags, by fastening the tags tightly against the collar with a twist tie or rubber band or even a commercially available “pouch” for tags, or by having the dog wear a break-away collar that will free the dog if he struggles against it. Microchip ID is terrific and can’t be lost, but not everyone will know it’s there or have a scanner to read it. ID tags (I recommend a “call if lost” tag with your phone number, in addition to your dog license and rabies tags) definitely help get lost dogs home again. (For anyone who might not know, a microchip is a tiny device that is injected into the dog between the shoulder blades, which will provide an ID number when read with a scanner passed over the dog.) Other than the tags problem, a deck provides a reasonably clean (certainly more so than dirt or grass) surface where dogs can relax in the sun and keep an eye, ear, and nose on their surroundings.
If you have problems with the dog chewing on the decking lumber, apply one of the taste deterrents you can find in pet supply stores. Bitter Apple™ is a popular choice and works well with many dogs. Others are available if your first choice doesn’t work. Spray it only on edges where the dog is chewing, not over the deck in general—you don’t want the dog walking through it and getting it on his paws. Not only will it be unpleasant for the dog trying to lick it from his paws, it might stain your carpeting.
My deck fencing design.
The fencing surrounding the deck could be wood, of course. Wood allows you to design almost any sort of fence that suits your fancy. You can customize, as I did, with the main section of fence slats close enough to keep even the toy dog in the house from squeezing through, topped by a foot-high decorative border with spaced slats so the bigger dogs can stick their heads through to get a clear view of the outside world.
The design, built of rough-sawn cedar, also blends well with the shiplap design of the house siding and our rustic setting. A solid-wood fence at the far side of the dog yard is also constructed of cedar, and carries the same feeling out into the yard. Consider your own house and surroundings when choosing materials for and designing your hardscaping.
Other fencing materials include the new plastic or vinyl designs, usually built in panels that mate up with posts, and wrought iron. Plastic/vinyl offers a number of styles, and appears to be easy to install and nearly maintenance-free. It admittedly costs considerably more than the average wood fence, but if your construction skills stop at digging holes for posts, the added expense for hiring someone to build your wood fence will bring the prices closer to one another.
Vinyl fencing can look as traditional as you desire.
Wrought iron also comes in panels. I’ve installed wrought iron fencing, and the work consists of digging many small holes for the metal posts and drilling even more holes through the posts to screw consecutive panels together. If you were fencing an absolutely fat area, you could have the holes drilled for you, but if you have any slope at all, you have to adjust where each set of holes is drilled, so it has to be done on-site.
The main problems with wrought iron fences and dogs are that the space between the “slats” often will allow smaller dogs to squeeze through, and the bottom rail sits above the ground and can encourage escape artists to dig under to freedom. Iron also is prone to rust, of course, and has to be painted regularly.
The simple addition of gates, even baby gates, at the top of the stairs could convert this deck to a dog enclosure.
Metal cyclone fencing is galvanized, so doesn’t have the rust problems of wrought iron. It costs more than a basic wooden fence, about the same as a basic wrought iron fence, and can be installed with a good deal of work but not a lot of experience. While many people don’t find it very attractive, it can be camou-flaged by plantings. The ties that attach the fencing to the posts can deteriorate or loosen, and should be checked regularly. As with all “open” fencing, it will not obstruct your dog’s view of neighborhood goings-on (whether that’s a good or bad thing depends on your dog and how aroused and likely to bark she will be by the activity). Watch out though—some dogs learn to climb cyclone fencing and escape.
If you already have a deck and fencing, but it isn’t secure enough to keep the dog in, you may be able to make some simple modifications rather than starting from the ground up. You can cover spaces wide enough to allow escape with any of a variety of screenings—chicken wire is inexpensive but not particularly attractive, other heavier and prettier wire designs cost more but won’t offend your aesthetic sensibilities and may prove more durable. And you can of course camouflage wire with potted plants or climbing vines, or even hang pots from the heavier gauges.
For any existing deck, make any modifications to the deck itself before installing fencing. Our deck was recently improved through necessity—rather than jack the corner of the deck up to have the septic system pumped out. We chose to have the corner of the deck cut off, to make an angled corner rather than a square one, and give up just enough space to let the pumper reach the clean-out. Two panels of our custom-designed fencing were removed, but fortunately could be cut to size and reinstalled to fence the new design. Only the top rail is new rough-cut cedar, which will take a few years to weather to the same gray color as the rest.
If you will be building the deck from the ground up, lay out your proposed design on the ground and walk around in it. Sure, it might be nice to avoid the same old boring rectangle, but not at the cost of usefulness. You certainly want enough space to walk around your table and chairs without someone or something falling off the deck. You might want room for a barbecue, either built-in or freestanding. Maybe you have a decorative planter or two that would provide the perfect accent, or a wall fountain that needs to be near an electrical outlet.
Set out whatever items you already own in your imaginary deck space, and use boxes to represent anything you don’t yet have but plan on getting. Move around the “furniture.” Is it comfortable? Be realistic—you don’t want to have to sidle sideways across your deck. Is the dog going from door to yard likely to knock over a planter or bang the table so hard that all the wine glasses will tip over? Before you invest any money, be sure your plans will work for you.
You can avoid the boxy look without being radical about it. The deck design illustrated in Chapter 2 adds interest by angling all the stairways, changing width, and wrapping around the corner. It’s large enough for a barbecue, bench and two sets of tables and chairs, yet not overwhelming.
Patios
Whereas decks are raised off the ground to a greater or lesser degree and nearly always surrounded by a railing, patios are at ground level and usually open to their surroundings. They are also constructed of different materials, with patio choices encompassing brick, flagstone, cobblestone, other stones, concrete, and occasionally tile.
Concrete is the most economical of patio surfaces, and can now be more attractive with the newer finishes. My dogs are calmly curious about the bunny.
Check your desired patio layout the same as your deck layout, to ensure that your furnishings will ft and still provide room to walk around them. Because there probably is no fencing around your patio, the dog will be free to choose where she enters and exits. You will save stress, as well as trampled plants or broken pots, by determining the dog’s favored routes and designing around them. They’re likely to be the most direct routes to other important areas of the yard anyway. You can mockup your patio layout, complete with furnishings, and leave it in place for a week or two and see how well it withstands your dog’s travels. Also consider the patio proportions in relation to the house—the patio provides a visual grounding of the house, and will not look pleasing if too small or too large. The individual pieces of the patio—bricks, fat stones, or what-ever—should also look in good proportion to the overall scene.
When installing a patio (or paths of similar materials), preparation of the ground below it matters greatly. Removing any grass or weeds to a depth of 8 to 12 inches, and replacing it with crushed rock, packed earth, sand, or even a layer of concrete, will prevent weeds and avoid frost upheaval. Your patio will stay level, neat, and clean.
My front yard as it exists now, and the patio I’d like to see there someday.
Patios can accommodate nearly any design, depending on materials, and planting holes can be incorporated into the plan. Bricks give you a choice of patterns such as herringbone, basket weave, running bond, and others. They are usually set in sand and then have sand swept in between the bricks and watered in thoroughly or tamped down with a mechanical compactor or a heavy plate you pound by hand. Compaction is very important. You don’t want your bricks to move, and you certainly don’t want your dog to shed sand all over the house every time he comes in from lying on the patio.
Concrete is probably the most economical of materials, but in the past it hasn’t been very attractive. Design possibilities have improved. Now you can tint concrete so it doesn’t have to be dirty grey, even existing concrete. You can also emboss it, imprinting patterns of various sorts, to avoid that bland fat look. Consult your local hardscape center for details on products and techniques for tinting and embossing.
If laying your own, you can set tile into the concrete as an accent. While installing your own, be sure to broom it while still wet to give it a little texture— otherwise it will be slick when wet and both dog and human will be at risk for slipping and falling. The rough texture will also help remove dirt from muddy paws and shoes before entering the house.
Stone, whether it’s flagstone or some other variety, is pricey, no doubt about it. You also run the risk of breaking fat stones if you drop them during installation or drop something very heavy on them once installed. But they offer a great variety of colors, textures, and shapes and an attractive surface. Stones can be dry laid into sand or actually mortared in place.
You can also combine materials, creating a brick circle in the middle of a concrete or stone patio, or a stone-edged garden pond in an otherwise brick patio. My dream patio includes brick-circled planting holes for the existing fruit trees, and an edge even with the strip of lawn to allow for easy mowing.
Some of these materials offer a cool place to lie in all but the hottest weather, though they are also hard and unyielding. You may want to provide a padded place for the dog to lie as well, and let her choose.
Containers on Decks and Patios
Some people do most of their gardening right on their patios and decks, in containers of various sorts. You can plant any type of plant in a container, from groundcover to trees, but some do better than others, especially among the larger choices. Blueberries work well, and provide not only fruit but also excellent fall color. Vines of all sorts can climb from pot to arbor—just check their hardiness. Among trees, Japanese maples generally do well in containers and offer tremendous variety in color, texture, and winter interest with shape and bark color and texture. Dwarf fruit trees are another good choice. A few additional selections would include dogwood, juniper, bottlebrush, Alberta spruce, smoke tree, hawthorn, Tanyosho pine, redbud, American holly, crape myrtle, gingko, and serviceberry (by no means a comprehensive list). Add vegetables, herbs, and ornamental grasses, and you have almost unlimited planting potential.
The containers themselves offer a great variety of materials, colors, sizes, and designs. Take note that the “narrow at the bottom, wide at the top” shape of traditional clay pots make them easier to tip over. Place containers out of the direct line of usual dog routes. The pots made of various space-age materials to resemble terra-cotta without the weight offer advantages of being less breakable, more impervious to weather, easier to move around, and water-sparing, but their light weight means they are also easier for a running dog to knock over, especially if you plant them with a non-soil potting mix rather than heavy dirt.
Being able to place blooming plants front and center helps make your deck or patio more appealing.
If you get frost where you live, and want to keep containers outside year-round, choose them for that purpose. Yes, double-glazed costs more than clay, but it won’t disintegrate over the winter. If you insist on clay, and chunks of pot fall off when the dog bumps the pot, don’t blame the dog. Some pots even come with lifetime guarantees against frost damage.
When planting containers, especially large containers, consider the weight of the pot (which can be immovable all by itself), plus the plant and wet soil or potting mix. Some will be heavy enough to crack decks, and you certainly won’t be moving them around at will. You may want to place them on a heavy-duty plant roller, if you’re going to want to change your container placement from time to time. After all, one of the advantages of potted plants is that you can rearrange them to feature whichever ones are in bloom or showing fall colors.
The main chore of container gardens is watering. You can minimize this by your container choices, potting materials, and how you put it all together with plants.
Our deck containers are all ceramic, as is the garden stool. This corner grouping is easily watered as part of the landscaping beyond the fence.
Terracotta pots dry out faster than other materials. If you like their look, but don’t like the idea of watering morning and evening in hot weather, line the sides of your pots with plastic before planting and you’ll cut down on evaporation. Massing pots together can help to create a moister atmosphere for plants, plus it makes your watering chores easier. Other container materials retain moisture better.
Whatever container types you use, choose your planting mix wisely. Potted plants must be able to drain well or roots will become waterlogged, but you don’t want water to drain away completely or the plant will be water-hungry nearly all the time. Combining soil-based and non-soil-based potting mixes can often give good results. Or take a tip from bonsai growers, whose tiny pots and limited root systems require just the right amount of water retention, and combine sterilized soil, sand, peat moss, and a moisture-retaining granule such as Perlite™ into a nice loose potting mix that holds and releases moisture over time. (Bonsai, by the way, makes an excellent focal point on a deck or patio.) The various soil-additive products meant to soak up water and then release it back to the plant don’t really assist all that much on their own, but the bonsai mixture is at least somewhat effective. There are also wick systems meant to carry water from a pail or container into potted plants. Nothing will substitute for your attention to the chore of watering, but careful pot selection and planting can help.
When potting up your containers, don’t fill them right to the top. Leaving some space between the soil surface and the top of the pot will make watering much easier, and you won’t be floating potting mix out onto your patio or deck every time you tend to this chore. And don’t forget that you can mulch pots just as you do your beds and borders—covering the soil surface with some gravel (which comes in various colors to complement your outdoor space) or bark chips also cuts down on evaporation.
It’s best to raise containers off the surface so that they can drain freely. The previously mentioned wheeled dollies not only allow you to move containers around, but provide space beneath them for drainage. Most nurseries now carry pot “feet,” often shaped like frogs or other creatures, or you can simply use some bricks.
The frequent watering leaches nutrients out of the soil, and there’s only a finite quantity there anyway, so you’ll need to fertilize regularly. You can add fertilizer to your watering, spray a foliar fertilizer on the plant itself, or use slow-release fertilizers, whether granules or spikes, to keep your plants well-fed. Be aware that some fertilizers and other garden products can stain deck or patio surfaces as they drain from planters, so you may want to keep a catch basin below them.
Pots given a southern exposure or a position against a light-colored wall will heat up more and dry out faster. Delicate plants may wilt and have a hard time. You’ll do better if you choose heat-loving specimens for such circumstances.
And, of course, place your pots where the dog is not going to be tempted to charge through them.
Paths
For paths, consider many of the same details as patios—preparation of the ground beneath them will impact greatly on their future upkeep, and their width must be comfortable for walking. You have a wider choice of materials, adding chipped bark, gravel, cobbles, slices of tree trunk, and more as possible path makings. You can even use grass paths through your flowerbeds, but be aware that you’ll have to edge them regularly, and unless your lawn mower includes a bag for catching clippings, you’ll be blowing them all over your flowers.
The biggest consideration with paths is to place them where they’ll work for you, your family, and your dog. We’ve warned you before that the dog will have certain preferred routes, and trying to change them will likely be futile. So you may be protesting that you don’t want an arrow-straight path between the back door and the garden shed where the squirrel lives . . . but that’s the one the dog’s already worn into the grass. Use your imagination! The shortest path between two points doesn’t have to LOOK like a straight line. Instead, use the straight line as the inside edge of curves in both directions (see illustration) and you have a pleasantly bending path that the dog can still run in a straight line without leaving the designated surface. Or use a straight path but place an indestructible focal point partway along it and send the path around both sides. For dogs who don’t like water, a garden pond will work. For water-loving dogs, an interesting boulder could serve well, or a solid one-piece sculptural element. Even a thick stand of tall ornamental grass will be enough to cause some dogs to go around rather than through. Finally, don’t just end the path at the shed. Put in a small path that does go straight to the shed door, but curve the main path off to some interesting garden feature, such as a small patio with a shady bench, a butterfly or rock garden, or even an outdoor oven.
Paths the dog can travel in a straight line don’t have to LOOK like a straight line.
Your path materials should of course appeal to your eye, but there are also upkeep considerations for each. Gravel and bark need to be contained, or will disappear into your landscape. They work extremely well between raised beds or with any of the solid borders you pound in to edge beds. Even with confining edging of some sort, and with weed-blocking fabric under them, they will gradually settle and seem to disappear, and will need to be supplemented occasionally. Perhaps the toughest chore is to try and get fallen leaves out of either of them. Blowers work reasonably well with gravel, but will also blow bark. Either use one of these choices in open sunny areas without trees, or resign yourself to leaves mingling with your path materials. Also note that chipped bark will stick in the coat of some dogs, and so be regularly walked into your house.
Just a simple concrete path, but it fits the house well and bends pleasantly to the door.
Tree trunk slices offer interest and blend well with a rustic setting. But they do deteriorate over time, and they can be slippery when wet. Unless you surround them with some other hard path material, such as gravel, grass and groundcovers will tend to grow right over them. A few dogs may be inclined to lie down and chew on the edges.
Flat stones of all sorts make a good path choice. In the misty Northwest, you may find that moss grows on your path in shaded locations—it’s attractive, but it can also be slippery. Planting between stones creates a pretty picture, but choose your plants wisely or they will quickly overrun your path. You’ve probably seen photographs of stepping stones set into the lawn, and that makes a pretty picture, too, but realize that you will have to edge around each stone on a regular basis, and be sure to set them level with the ground so you can mow right over them.
Bricks are the same for paths as they are for patios—lay them correctly the first time and you’ll have far less upkeep the rest of the time.
Dog Runs in the Landscape
If you choose to install a dog run, realize that the dog will be much more content close to the family than segregated off in a far corner of the yard somewhere. He’ll appreciate a good vantage point for seeing other parts of the yard, especially any areas where you come and go. In most parts of the country, the run should be at least partially shaded. Any configuration other than a rectangle or square will tend to be more fully used by the dog—many people wrap a run around the side and back of the house so that the dog has views of both the front and back yards.
A doghouse in a dog run offers protection from inclement weather, necessary if the dog will be staying in the run while you are away from home.
With the words “dog run,” you might be picturing an ugly box of chain mesh. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can design any sort of enclosure that suits you. In particular, if you have a good relationship with your dog and don’t expect him or her to live in isolation, a minimal barrier is necessary. Wrought iron fencing surrounded our front yard at a previous home. Our little terrier mix Harry-O could have pushed between the rails and my large retriever Serling could easily have jumped the top bar, but they had no desire to do so. A dog that spends most of the day with his or her family will be less driven to escape temporary confinement, especially if it’s close to and in visual contact with the action. So the means of confinement can become less obtrusive.
When planning to add a dog run to your landscaping, consider
• Size of your dog—obviously, larger dogs in general need more room than smaller dogs, and two dogs need twice the room of one. Size can be smaller if the dog will be confined to the run only occasionally for short periods. A very general guideline is that a large, Golden-retriever-size dog will need approximately 1100 square feet of run in some extended configuration such as 15 feet x 75 feet. A Beagle-sized dog might make do with 300 square feet. Keep in mind that the larger the run, the less odors will concentrate.
• The location of your family activities—the tendency to want to stick a dog run off in a far corner of the yard somewhere is incorrect. The dog wants to be as close to the action as possible. You will have fewer problems if you acknowledge that.
• Shelter and shade—dogs overheat easily, and a dog run must include a shaded area. If the dog will ever be left there without a family member present to supervise, there must also be some sort of shelter from the elements, whether that’s a dog door into the house or garage, or a dog house.
• Ventilation—openwork-fencing materials allow breezes to blow through the run to help keep it cool, and allow the dog to see out. They are also less of a visual imposition in the landscape.
• Height—unless you have relationship problems with your dog, there’s no need for towering eight-foot-high walls. Three to four feet is plenty to keep compliant dogs in.
• Easy access to a hose and/or your trash area for your convenience in cleaning the run.
The dog run can actually blend nicely with garden surroundings if you plan it that way.
With all that in mind, you can build your run out of wooden slats, iron railing sections hung between posts, metal corral panels, even metal stockyard fencing strung on metal poles if you want to camouflage it with plants. Metal fencing serves as a sturdy backdrop for staking tall plants or training climbing vines. Many homeowners have used honeysuckle or jasmine to good effect. Dog runs can actually become attractive components in the landscape.
If you use a concrete pad as the floor of your dog run and plan on hosing it down periodically, add a foot-wide swath of gravel around the outside perimeter of the run. This will both allow the water to drain, and keep plantings slightly away from the run so they don’t grow into the run and entice the dog to chew. Still, don’t use any toxic plants (see Chapter 8) as landscaping directly around the run. Kristin Beane Sullivan, writing for Garden Gate Magazine, suggests zebra grass along the run’s west side to provide afternoon shade and only plants low enough for the dog to see over on whatever side of the run faces the house or drive or wherever the dog will be looking for her humans. She also suggests that if the run is constructed of chain link, you can make it less noticeable by painting it black or hanging wood lattice over the most visible portions.
Arbors, Pergolas, and Other Shade Structures
In talking about dog runs, I’ve mentioned that you need to provide the dog with some shade. People appreciate the same consideration, and if you don’t have a dog run, the dog will likely also approve of a shady nook on the deck or patio or out in the yard.
You can, naturally, depend on trees for shade. If you don’t have established trees in your yard, it will take some time for anything you plant to get large enough to offer much in the shade department. While you wait, or where you don’t want trees, there are plenty of other options.
When deciding on a shade structure, know the path of travel of shade in both summer and winter, as well as prevailing winds, and combine that information with exactly what you want the structure to provide—a cozy breakfast out of the wind and rain, barbecues on hot summer days, quiet reading alone on wintry afternoons. It won’t serve its purpose unless you plan for that purpose when designing and positioning it. Shade structures with a couple of walls can also impart a lovely feeling of privacy, even in relatively close quarters.
Arbors can be designed to suit almost any situation.
Traditional arbors, trellises, etc. are constructed of wood. These of course blend right in with wood decks, but can also suit stone patios, or even garden settings. Pre-constructed lattices fastened onto posts are a quick and easy design, manageable by most homeowners and relatively inexpensive. It provides an excellent surface for climbing vines. It’s not heavy-duty, however, and can be broken by rambunctious dogs playing too close. Most designs use heavier (and thus more expensive) lumber and more elaborate construction. Homeowners with some basic woodworking skills can handle the job in many cases, though designs using dovetail joints rather than simply screwing pieces together can be maddening in their necessary precision.
If you need shade in a hurry and are looking for flexibility of use, you might try one of those free-standing tent tops on poles. If you’ve ever been to a dog competition of almost any kind, you’ve seen plenty of these, used by both exhibitors for their dogs and salespeople for their booths. They come in various sizes and the newer ones come in one piece that folds up like an accordion when not wanted, and opens large enough to cover a small deck. Two people can put one up and down quite handily, and you can even get sides to further enclose them. Most are white, though you may occasionally see another color. In even a moderate wind, they tend to become airborne, so you need to anchor them or take them down on especially windy days. They are not the choice for you if you want plants to cover your shade structure.
Gazebos are more intricate structures, but can serve as beautiful focal points and destinations.
Garden Ponds and Pools
When it comes to water features, canines divide into two basic groups—those who’d like to spend most of their time in them, and those who’d sooner chew off their own leg than get wet. So it becomes a question of protecting your pond from the dog or your dog from the pond.
With actual swimming pools, it’s safety first. Laws in many places require pools to be securely fenced or covered for child safety, and it isn’t a bad idea for dogs either. If your dog could end up in the pool at any time, whether intentionally or accidentally, the pool should include built-in steps, not just vertical ladders, and the dog should know where they are. Dogs have difficulty hauling themselves out on the side of a pool, and shouldn’t be expected to do so. In fact, it’s a good idea to conduct a water safety drill with your dog and your pool. Steps won’t do any good if the dog doesn’t know they’re there.
Swimming is terrific exercise for dogs, and lots of fun besides.
Invite your dog into the pool. Play fetch with a water toy, if your dog is so inclined. Stand on the steps yourself, and encourage the dog back to you after each fetch. Walk out of the pool with the dog, and then walk back in. By repetition of using the steps, you dog will know where they are and will know how to safely get out of the pool. Test by standing away from the steps while the dog is in the pool and calling her to come out. If she swims to the steps and walks out, you’ll know you’ve accomplished your water safety training. If she tries to haul herself out on the edge closest to you, you need to repeat the exercise of using the steps.
For dogs who won’t go willingly into the pool, you need to decide if you will always keep them safely away from the pool when no one’s there to supervise. If you’re not sure you can do that, you need to show them how to get out of the pool, even if it means you have to force them to go in. Panicked dogs are no more clear thinking than panicked humans, and both can exhaust themselves trying the same unsuccessful escape route over and over rather than seeking another way out. You don’t want to end up with a tragic drowning.
Contrary to popular opinion, a good pool filter can handle some dog hair, but it does help if your dog is reasonably groomed. Dogs in the midst of “blowing coat”—an annual or twice-yearly heavy shedding—should either be thoroughly brushed before a swim or kept out of the pool temporarily. Water can mat the loose hair and make brushing much more of a chore, and such an abundance of hair at once could overwhelm pool maintenance equipment.
Garden water features are another matter. You probably don’t want the dog in there frolicking around amid your koi or those water lilies you’re waiting to see bloom. So some ground rules are in order.
Using the same theory as the digging pit, outlined in Chapter 9, you can provide a kiddy pool or some other water feature where the dog is welcome. Then it’s just a matter of encouraging the dog where you do want him to splash and play and discouraging him where you don’t. Remember, compromise nearly always works better than trying to get rid of behavior altogether.
If you love plants but your gardening time is limited, a well-planned and executed pond could be just what you need because maintenance requirements are low. Water gardens are gaining in popularity, and more and more water plants are available through local nurseries. Fish are also easier to find, and should include top feeders (for bugs, especially mosquito larvae) and bottom feeders (for algae and debris). With the right-sized pump to keep water moving and well oxygenated, a filter system, and the right plants and fish, a water garden can be nearly self-sufficient. You might have to add some water from time to time, or feed the fish, but there’s no weeding or mowing and little fertilizing. Little nets filled with barley straw help control algae. In northern climates, fish do require a minimum depth (obviously, if the pond freezes to the bottom, the fish aren’t going to survive) and an opening in the ice if the pond surface freezes over. Waterfalls, a popular feature of ponds, are less likely to freeze. You can get a floating deicer, used with livestock to keep water tanks open. They require a source of electricity, but only turn on when water is in danger of freezing and only heat enough to keep it from becoming solid.
This pond amid extensive Japanese gardens is more than most homeowners would contemplate but could be scaled down to good effect.
Some dogs will have no inclination to splash in any sort of pond.
If you like the idea of moving water but don’t want to install an actual pond, you have other options. Wall fountains are self-contained units you simply hang, fill with water, plug in, and voila, running water. Some freestanding birdbaths also serve as fountains. Or you can make a “bubbler” an interesting feature of your landscape. With this design, what would ordinarily be the water-filled depression of a pond is instead filled with rounded rocks. A pump under the rocks at the center of the depression pushes water up over the surface of the rocks, so they are wet and there is moving water, but there’s no actual “pond.” There’s no danger of drowning, and if the dog lies down in the middle of it, the only result is a wet dog. Birds, butterflies, and other small wildlife are attracted to bubblers because the shallow water over and between the rocks is perfect for them to drink and bathe. My dream patio features a bubbler.
Irrigation
There’s no getting around the fact that you have to water what you’ve planted, either occasionally or regularly, depending on where you live and what you’ve planted, and your other garden practices. You have your choice of systems, but some are more dog friendly than others.
A lot of people will hear “irrigation” and automatically think of extensive systems of buried lines and pop-up sprinklers, run by an automatic clock. That can be a fine system although I think people do tend to ignore what the weather is doing and let automation take over, watering in the midst of a week of rain, for example. It’s certainly the most expensive option, and may require digging up your landscaping to install. Some installers now use an underground tunneling mechanism that avoids much of the tearing up of the landscape and may even prove to be less expensive than the traditional trenching approach. It coexists well with dogs, with two cautions. The sprinkler heads must be set well so that they truly are at ground level when not popped up, and don’t represent something to trip over or fall into—a hazard for dogs and humans. And you must always be sure that the dog is not where she will have no choice but to get wet when the timer turns the system on.
Plenty of less pricey options are out there, and most do just fine coexisting with dogs. Soaker hoses wound through the garden weep moisture into the soil at a slow rate. Because they must be placed amid the plants to work, they are usually out of harm’s way. They are more water conserving than most systems, as they don’t throw water through the air, where some of it evaporates.
There are also other systems that do throw water through the air. I’ve been using a drip irrigation system of large flexible pipe looped through the garden, with much smaller tubes poked into the pipe, each leading to an individual hard plastic sprayer. This style of system is used by several of our local nurseries and comes highly recommended. I have found the little plastic sprayers prone to breakage—not just with dogs running through the garden occasionally, but with wildlife doing the same, and even with my own weeding and planting activities. I plan to convert my system to a similar one my brother (also a dog owner) is using. The large black pipe is the same, but the smaller tubes stand up out of the pipe rather than snaking through the garden. They’re firm enough to stand but flexible enough to bend when contacted. The little sprayers sit directly in the top of the tube. The tubing is black, only one-quarter inch in diameter, and blends into the landscaping well. Our dogs do sometimes crash into some of the pipes while roughhousing together, and they’ve done no damage.
Of course, you don’t have to have an extensive irrigation system. Plenty of people use hoses and sprinklers successfully. These come in a large variety of styles and prices. Cheap-o plastic sprinklers do not stand up to much canine attention. Some dogs chew them to pieces, and some water lovers roll enthusiastically on them while they’re in use. Of course, they cost so little that maybe it doesn’t bother you to just go out and buy another. Or you can make a larger one-time investment and purchase a much more robust model that will take abuse and keep on whirling. Be aware that if you do have a dog who likes to play in the sprinklers, she may move the unit around the yard, so you’re not watering what you think you are!
You can also get rotating sprayers on towers, and I use several of those. They spray farther, and can spray over tall plants without being blocked. The dogs can’t roll on them, and don’t put their mouths on them because they’re metal, but they can knock them over if they’re in the path of play. One is a plain, unattractive metal tower with three support legs, which can tip itself over from the sheer velocity of water it throws if I don’t balance it well. It’s used mainly in the fenced pastures. The other is a lovely metal design of hummingbirds in a circle, the circle being pierced to send a shower over a large circumference. It actually serves as both garden art and irrigation, and, being in the center of an established bed, the dogs do not interact with it.
Of course, you don’t need any more than a hose or a watering can to apply water to a garden, if you have the time. The drawback of watering this way is that most people rush through it and don’t water deeply enough, so that trees and shrubs tend to have shallow roots. We do hand-water the small beds around the outbuildings near the house, and I use the time to do the weeding as well, or the pruning, or whatever needs to be done, so I’m willing to stay longer in one place and get both jobs done well.
Do not leave hoses and dogs together unattended if your dog has any tendency to chew on things, and certainly don’t use old hose pieces as toys. Chapter 8 includes a tale of a dog who chewed on hoses and had serious medical problems because of it.
Finally, the gardening experts advise that you can save a lot of watering by heeding their advice to mulch, mulch, mulch. Adding organic matter to the garden, whether that matter is manure, leaves, grass clippings, or other options, both conserves water and improves the soil, and will improve all your gardening efforts. See Chapter 7 for more on this.
Outdoor Lighting
You can simply provide sufficient light to be able to move around outdoors after dark without tripping over the dog, or you can light specific garden features for effect, create a party atmosphere with tiny white Christmas-tree lights as part of your landscape all year long, repel bugs, or even feature faming torches. I admit to doing no more than the first choice, but then I’m not often outdoors after dark. For those who are, lighting is an essential part of landscape design.
It’s best to plan your lighting right along with your planting beds, decks, patios, and irrigation because electrical lines should be safely out of the way. One of the selling points of low-voltage lighting systems is that you don’t have to bury their electrical lines, but you still need to keep them and the dog safe from each other. Anything other than low-voltage lines should be safely buried. Keep good note of where your electrical (and irrigation) lines run so that you won’t create a disaster when you decide to install that new bed.
Any electrical line that supplies power to outdoor lights, pond pumps, or whatever should (and in many cases, MUST per regulations) be protected by a GFCI switch. GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, which means that in response to any perceived interruption in the lines flowing from that switch, the GFCI will disconnect itself, cutting off power to the line. This is meant to protect you from electrocution in the event that you drive a shovel through a power line, but can also mean that your GFCI shuts off in damp weather. Some are overly sensitive. You only need to push a button to reset the GFCI, and if the switch immediately disconnects itself again, you need to consult an electrician.
Solar lights require no wiring and can be attractive and utilitarian. How effective they are will depend on the specific system you buy (there’s quite a price variance, and this might be a case where you get what you pay for) and how much sunlight the collector receives in a day. They aren’t as bright as a conventional porch light, but a series of them can certainly light a path enough to travel it safely. Because the light is less intense, it tends to have a soft, warm, inviting feel.
Old-style technology can also provide light without electricity. Lanterns, torches, and candles can all light the way. Because all have open fames, some safety precautions are required.
Lanterns combine breakable glass with flammable liquids, not a pretty picture if knocked over and broken. But hung out of the way under an arbor, or on a sturdy table against a wall, they can light the scene for evening entertaining in fine fashion.
Candles offer plenty of options—just be sure they are safe from rowdy play. You can buy a variety of citronella candles to discourage bugs from joining your party. You’ve probably seen “luminaria,” candles in pierced paper bags, but I don’t recommend these in the presence of dogs. There’s just too much potential for an accident.
Remember to light more than just the patio or deck (unless you like the feeling of dark surrounding you). Your garden can become a whole different landscape at night, depending on what you choose to illuminate. Up light a specimen Japanese maple or place a couple of underwater lights in your garden pond. You can even have separate switches for visual enhancements such as just mentioned and the merely utilitarian, such as the path to the garden shed.
A modern greenhouse of plastic sheeting over wood framing.
Greenhouses and Storage Sheds
Greenhouses these days may be glass or heavy-duty plastic. Obviously, glass presents a potential for broken glass. My Keeshond Sundance was raised in an old farmhouse, with no windows at dog level. When we moved to a modern ranch home, she saw the enormous sliding glass doors as open space and crashed head-first into it when she spied a squirrel in the yard. A similar occurrence could happen with a greenhouse, though thus far I’ve been the culprit in breaking panes in the greenhouse that came with our place. Several times, the lawnmower has kicked a rock and shattered a panel. Each time, everything else has to stop while we gather up every shard lest a dog slice a foot open. So each broken glass pane was replaced with Plexiglas, and now when I mow, the glass front of the greenhouse is shielded with large foam panels. This has avoided the problem for now, but someday I’d like to replace the roughly built, rather unattractive greenhouse with a more modern version of plastic sheeting, with a roof vent that opens automatically in warm weather. Rocks thrown by lawnmowers can damage the sheeting, but there’s no broken glass to clean up, and the hole can be patched with tape. The plastic is more translucent than transparent, so is a much more obvious barrier to a dog. If you already have a glass greenhouse in place, you may want to apply some decals at dog’s eye level.
If you plan to include a greenhouse, locate it to receive winter sun and some summer sun, if possible. And be sure none of your plans will block that sun. A large barn built after the greenhouse here partially shades it in winter—not an optimum arrangement. You may want partial shade in the summer, however. Average summer temperatures here in the Northwest don’t climb that high, but the greenhouse can easily top 100 degrees if the fan isn’t running.
Storage sheds share another hazard of greenhouses—the presence of hazardous materials. Not everyone subscribes to organic non-chemical gardening practices, and pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and outright poisons may be stored in outbuildings. These must not only be used safely but also stored safely. Do not leave any dangerous materials just sitting on the floor. There will come a day when you leave the door open and the dog wanders in; you don’t want it to be a fatal mistake. Keep all such materials well set back on sturdy shelves out of the reach of the dog. This obviously depends on the size of your dog, but also be aware of climbing ability—some small dogs are quite adept, and will scramble from the gas can to the riding lawnmower to your shelving without a second thought. Don’t give them a path. Keep all dangerous materials in their original containers, not only so you always know what they are, but so you have the emergency first aid instructions on the packaging in the event disaster ever strikes.
Even organic products can attract the dog, or attract small vermin that will attract the dog. We’ve had the latter problem with bloodmeal, bonemeal, and kelp-based products. We’ve learned from storing sheep and chicken feed that metal storage containers solve many problems. Metal garbage cans in various sizes are a little harder to find in these days of plastic everything, but wonderfully utilitarian.
Some hazards are less obvious. My sister-in-law had her kittens playing in her greenhouse while she worked, and one leaped from a bench directly into the pail containing fertilizer irrigation water. A soap and water bath cleaned the kitten up with no ill effects, and the pail now has a cover.
A dog running around within the confines of a greenhouse could do a great deal of damage in a short amount of time. So you’ll want to be sure your dog has good manners before inviting him or her in. Make a cozy bed under one of the benches and train your dog to lie there, and you’ll have someone to talk to while you potter. Just don’t water the bench while the dog’s asleep down there!
Even long-handled garden tools can be dangerous if they aren’t stored securely. Many have sharp blades or points, and even those without sharp edges can deliver quite a blow if knocked over. You can now buy organizers for your tools—free-standing structures, some on wheels, with holes and slots for inserting tools. You can hang them around the walls of your shed to keep them out of harm’s way. Or you can stick them into a large trash container, after securing the container so it can’t tip over (though they do tend to get a bit tangled).
Always be certain the dog has exited the shed or greenhouse before closing the door. A dog in a state of panic over being locked in can create more mayhem than you might think possible. Some might just lie quietly and wait to be rescued, but you never know.
Doggie Play
There’s a saying among dog trainers that “a tired dog is a good dog.” So you might want to think of ways to entertain and exercise your dog at home in the garden. One excellent way is dog agility.
The sport itself has a lot of cumbersome equipment, but you don’t need a whole course setup to have some fun. You could do quite well with a couple of jumps (which can be as simple as a length of PVC with the ends resting on chairs or cinder blocks or whatever is the right height), a kiddy play tunnel, and a plank on some cinder blocks. Start with low jump heights—no higher than the dog’s shoulder—and have the dog approach them straight on. Start with the tunnel squashed together so it’s short, and lure the dog through with a treat. Use treats to encourage the dog onto the plank over the cinder blocks and along its entire length. When the dog is accustomed to the individual obstacles, you can start combining obstacles and increasing the difficulty. Gradually raise jump heights a little. In competitive agility, small dogs may jump 8-12 inches, medium dogs 16-20 inches, and large dogs 24-30 inches. Gradually open the tunnel so it gets longer and longer, and even put a bend in it. An agility trainer’s tip you can use is to weight the ends with water-filled milk or water jugs, either just propped on either side of the tunnel ends, or fastened together with a bungee cord placed over the tunnel.
This dog and homeowner keeps all agility equipment collected in a corner of the yard.
Tennis balls and Frisbees are of course popular with many dogs. You’ll need plenty of open space and/or an accurate throw, because a dog in hot pursuit of a flying object may not respect the usual boundaries. If you’re going to play Frisbee, get yourself one of the soft fabric versions—they fly just as well and you don’t run the risk of teeth or mouth injuries.
Musical canine freestyle or “dancing with your dog” can be physically and mentally stimulating, and can even be done indoors. Standard dog moves include weaving between the human’s legs, jumping over extended arms or legs, spinning, rolling over. But imagination is encouraged.
“Fishing poles” with stuffed toys on the end of the line, or a lunge whip with a rag tied to the tip are great for dogs who like to chase. The human doesn’t have to exert him or herself too much.
Toys can help to pass the time, whether they are commercially available items or homemade entertainment devices. One of our dogs of the past, Starsky, made it perfectly clear that he delighted in the chance to leap into the air and grab a toy, then wrestle it to the ground and tug for a while before letting it go to start over again. So we devised a spring-powered hard rubber ring suspended from one corner of an arbor. Eventually we ran a stretch of PVC over most of the length of the suspension rope so it wasn’t as prone to recoiling and wrapping itself over the arbor. Starsky enjoyed many fine hours out wrestling with his own personal strength trainer. Our other dogs paid no attention to it whatever.
Starsky’s occupation of choice.
My two retriever-type mixes, when I couldn’t indulge in long sessions of smashing tennis balls for them to retrieve, had their own home-built ball launchers. It never offered the sheer abandon of running a football field after a struck ball, but it did occupy them at times, and my boy, Serling, even learned to reload by dropping the ball in to the cup. Now there are pricey commercial launchers meant to do the same thing, and holding an entire bucket of balls. But it’s still more fun to hit your own.
Water-loving dogs might enjoy a pool to call their own. Even dogs who only wade rather than swim may like the chance to cool off in warm weather. Kiddie pools work just fine. Be aware that if you set them on lawn, they will kill the grass beneath them. Make the pool more entertaining by tossing a handful of hot dog slices in and letting the dog bob for them. Some dogs may need to start slowly, with you holding a bit of hot dog just under the water, before actually plunging their face into the water.
You can also use food outside the pool, hiding dog biscuits or even the dog’s kibble around the yard so he has to “hunt” for it. If you have problems with mice or rats, this may not be the right suggestion for you. Some dogs will happily spend their days tracking down each individual bit of food.
Some dogs would rather “dissect” than hunt. Tie a hard biscuit up in a rag, then tie that in another rag, and present the bundle to the dog. Supervise when you first try this, to see that your dog isn’t going to eat the rags.
Taking a good dog training class will give you some good control exercises to work on with your dog, and the trainer might have other suggestions for ways to entertain your dog and burn off some energy. Chapter 9 discusses some jobs you can give the dog to do to actually help you in the garden.
Whatever toys you choose, keep them fresh and interesting by having a variety and rotating them daily. Only have a couple available to the dog at a time, pick them up when you come home, and put down a new pair when you leave the next morning. Have enough to get you through three or four days of rotation, and they will be much less likely to become boring.
Also see Chapter 9 for more suggestions for entertaining a dog, such as a digging pit or hiring others to keep your dog busy.
You should know how your dog likes to play, or experiment with some of these suggestions and visit a good pet supply store. It’s not hard to have a good time with a dog.