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| I have a very small lot, but not much time. And in Wisconsin, not much summer. I have two little girl dogs who have made many, many brown spots. Last summer, I had a little pea gravel pathway put in on the perimeter of about half the yard as a "potty patch." We're still working on using that on a regular basis. I've followed Gary in Chicago's advise on planting seed and have been successful, but even in my small yard, it's a project and me tackling it alone while working f/t and tending to the flower gardens has been difficult - not only the initial seeding project, but then the watering and protecting the spots. I was thinking I would hire someone to come in and patch the spots with sod. Is this possible/advisable or should I persevere with the seeding? I've been trying to find a service and it seems impossible to discern who's good/reliable. The other issue, of course, is the weeds. My neighbor's lawn is almost completely creeping Charlie and since last summer, it has creeped quite a ways onto my lawn. I've been trying to pull it, but then there is the garlic mustard creeping in on another side from another neighbor. And the clover!! Sheesh. Other factors: I have a potbelly pig who eats the grass, so no chemicals. And whenever I seed, it's really a challenge keeping the pig, the dogs and, yes, there are cats, off the newly seeded spots. If I did them all at once, I'd have a maze. Someone told me to use burlap. Does this work? My lawn was so nice when I moved in. Is it hopeless?
Thx so much, Betsy, exhausted in WI |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by bassplayer7 none (My Page) on Wed, Jun 15, 11 at 15:17
| Wow! That's quite a situation you have there! Without pesticides it will be much harder to control the weeds and have a nice lawn. The best weed prevention approach is to have a good thick lawn but even then herbicides are very helpful in dealing with the few that always come through, and it's hard to get it thick with weeds there. There may be organic things that might help - I don't know. If you want grass the easy way, sod does work well - as long as it's quality and the install is good. Watering, though is just as important as seed. Just curious, what type of grass do you have and what do the "spots" look like? Do the blades in the dead spots look completely dead, or is there still some green on them? Also, how easily does the grass come up when you pull it up - does it come up like carpet, almost? Unfortunately, getting a nice yard with your situation sounds extremely difficult. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Thu, Jun 16, 11 at 9:05
| The normal pet problem is dogs tearing it up. There is no hope for a lawn with active dogs. You have the problem of a pig eating it up. I'm thinking there is no hope for a "normal" lawn with a pig. You might consider going to forage type plants for the pig. I'm not sure if Dutch white clover is considered a forage for pigs or not. Other clovers are, however. Even creeping charlie might be considered forage. Crabgrass certainly is a forage plant. I would check with the local agricultural extension agent for more ideas on local forage suitable for a pig. He or she should be located in or near the county courthouse. |
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| Ok, so I hired someone to put in sod and seed (which I'll never do again; they did such a bad job, I may as well have done it myself), and I'm still working with the dogs to use the potty patch exclusively. They're better, but it's work in progress. If I'm not there to spray the wet spot immediately after it happens, I've decided to start trying to throw some seeds down and water. I've just read on another thread about a watering routine and milorganite to control weeds, but milorganite will only make things worse with the dogs' additional nitrogen contribution, right? What if I only put the milorganite down on spots that weren't already pee burned and then watered right away? Also, the white clover and creeping charlie are just exploding all over the place. Are there no organic remedies for that stuff? The pig does no damage at all. He, in fact, helps me by also "mowing" the lawn. I just don't want him to eat anything toxic. I've posted on a pig forum about the toxicity of milorganite relative to pigs, but if you have knowledge of that, please let me know. ;)  |
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