Thankful for dogs that dig holes in rose beds

16 years ago

Yes - today I am truly thankful for large dogs digging large holes in rose beds. I have been pulling weeds and there was a big "dog" hole where I was pulling. The remains of Mrs. Woods Lavender still showed above the ground next to the hole where she had been murdered with a weed eater - almost to the ground. Heck, her label still stood guard over her grave like a tombstone. As I got the weeds out6 of the way, I started pushing the mound of dirt back into the hole with my hands and what do I find - 4 basal breaks coming from the grave of Mrs. WL. For once doge holes are a good thing. I suspect they dug the hole, piling their excavated earth up around the base of MWL. Along comes the rose murder and chops her off at the "NEW" ground level. So today I say thanks for Dogs that make bomb craters in rose beds.

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Comments (12)

jerijen
16 years ago
To begin with, I have tried for years to get my gopher-hunting dogs to dig where the holes would be useful. So felicitations!

And felicitations re. Mr. Woods!
Now, since you have her, and were familiar with her BEFORE the weed-eater came on the scene, please tell me what to expect of her habit.
I still have her in a 5-G, building up to going into the ground, but I'd like to get an idea where to plunk her. Is she going to be a climber, or a bush?

Jeri
daun
16 years ago
My helper loves to dig and pull invading roots of other trees, or weeds. She is my roto tiller!

Thankful for my garden buddy!
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There must be a million good ways to grow roses but I wouldn't include Heirloom's planting advice among them. Roses, like most plants, make their living in the top foot or less of soil. Digging holes deeper than that is a recipe for the bathtub effect. Furthermore, adding manure at the bottom of a 2 ft deep hole is pointless so far as feeding the rose and even more dangerous in terms of the drainage and the bathtub effect. Furtherfurthermore, filling the hole with a 50-50 mix of compost is just asking for serious settling of the soil. I think some reasonable to ways to plant roses would be: 1) If you are planting roses in a bed, don't dig holes at all, rather amend the entire bed with something like 10% compost to a depth of 1 foot. 2) If you dig individual holes, the ideal would be 1 ft deep and 3 ft wide, filled with amended soil.
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Hey bakersuzie, just wanted to say I have a 1.5 year old chocolate lab(Molly) that loves to dig to with a 7 year old Golden Retriever(Jake). Yeah I said 7 year old retriever, Molly has given him new life and energy in a bad way sometimes. As everyone else has said exercise and play is the key. If 15 to 30 minutes can spent with them they are fine. If not then sometimes, I come home to a hole in the yard. Anyway the main reason I'm writing is about the invisible fence. I see where some people say they don't work. In my opinion, if you can't afford an invisible fence you can't afford a dog. Unless you live on a 50 acre plantation. I have invisible fence and trust me my lab is very hard headed and unfortunatly not as trained as she should be. Although she does know where the fence is and has NEVER crossed it. As for Jake the Golden he is such a wimp and I don't think he has ever thought about crossing it. It seems every time I hear a problem about invisible fences are when the owner has bought a cheap off brand. I have many relatives and friends that have the name brand and have NEVER had a problem keeping the dogs in. Mine has been struck by lightning but has a lifetime warranty and was replaced free of charge. And no, I don't work for invisible fence or know anyone that does but I do know that it works great and you get what you pay for as usual.
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When I bought my house 15 years ago... The soil in my entire yard was this grayish sticky clay. I thought for sure I'd never be able to grow anything. In the first few years I amended it with peat moss, but never really noticed much difference. Since then, I have switched to using my fall leaves for soil improvement. I have several maple trees in my yard that drop a lot of leaves every autumn. I go over my yard every few days in the fall with my lawn mower... Bag on...and shred them. Then I dump them on my flower beds. In the empty beds.... Those I use mainly for growing annuals and such... I put a good 8-10" of shredded leaves on them each fall and spray them down with water after each layer to keep them from blowing away. In the spring I turn them over into the soil. After 10+ years of doing this I now have the richest most friable soil you can imagine.... Crawling with earth worms and other microbial life. In my perennial beds I have to be a bit more careful so I don't suffocate the crowns of the plants. I just spread the shredded leaves around the plants and let nature do the work. The earthworms and other insects take it down into the soil. Any shredded leaves I have left over I pile into my compost pile and let them spend a year there. By the next fall they have decomposed into the nicest, fluffiest leaf mould imaginable. Great for incorporating into planting holes of roses, shrubs, annuals... Just about anything... Or just using as a fabulous top dressing around plants. You can't buy stuff like this... You just have to make it yourself. It's been many years since I have sent any of my fall leaves to the curb for city pickup. They are too valuable an asset to let the city haul them away!!
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rozannadanna
Original Author
16 years ago
Jeri, she was small when I left and now she is down to 4 6 inch basal bre3aks - I have no idea how big she is going to get.
jerijen
16 years ago
Well, I guess we will explore it together.

Jeri
anntn6b
16 years ago
Rozanne,
Maybe the dawg was killing burying roseroot gophers or voles at the same time. Strong rose roots are good things.
Jeri,
There's a picture of Mrs. Woods LPN in an article on my gardens on the Tenarky District website from several years ago.
She was four years old then and hasn't gotten much larger.
Growing on a heavy clay, she's happily about four and half feet tall and tends to be more cylindrical than spready. Mine is larger than Martha Washington but smaller than most other noisettes.
mauirose
16 years ago
That is a very pretty rose bush Ann! Jeri thanks for asking the question-doesn't seem to be much out there about this rose but after seeing the picture and smelling her first tiny bloom i'm sure i don't understand why.
jerijen
16 years ago
Sounds like I should expect her to be a tall bush, rather than a climber. She's sure disease free here!

Jeri
catsrose
16 years ago
I put Mrs Woods in as a band late last year, so I'm curious also...

I tried a puppy once, a very sweet dog, but a digger. When she dug up my Winged Thorn, I decided I really am not a dog person. I found her a lovely home with three little boys out in the country. Cat don't do manual labor; they only supervise.
lucillle
16 years ago
My dogs are destructive too, my solution was to walk them on-leash outside. They are happy, I am happy. the garden is happy.
rozannadanna
Original Author
16 years ago
The hold digging happened while I was in Colorado; the dog is quickly learning that she cannot go into the flower beds but without her digging a bomb crater and piling the dirt around the rose, I know the rose would be gone like so many others.

As I cleaned beds yesterday, along a fence that before I left had been covered with mature climbers which are now missing, I kept finding burned spots with rose canes turned to charcoal. The former resident, my ex, obviously deliberately pilled and burned under many, many roses. And this too shall pass.
ronda_in_carolina
16 years ago
Oh Rozanna..I am so sorry.

My ex didn't do the damage but he did hire a yard crew to maintain the yard who immediately returned to steal Jap. Maples, a mature Renae, Gold Medal, Koi, and an entire brick sundial patio (created with unique shaped bricks). They clearly knew what they were doing.

You are right. These things do pass. Spring is a time of starting over and I know you will be able to create a paradise again.

:o)

Ronda
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
16 years ago
One of my old dogs used to excavate. Problem was, he would eat whatever he excavated. He ate 'Peace' one year, all except the bud union, which he carried around for weeks.

Congrats on the rebirth of Mrs. Woods!

Thankful for dogs that dig holes in rose beds

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Thankful for dogs that dig holes in rose beds

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