Need advise caring for a homesick dog?
17 years ago
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17 years ago- 17 years ago
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New plans and elevations... care to advise?
Comments (7)Thanks, guys :) woodyoak- I do have an informal flagstone path cutting through the border right next to the side porch, did you see that? (Next to where I drew the Arctic Fire Dogwood). From a functional standpoint, that gets you into the lawn and could walk around to the front door (which is what we do now on the rare occasions we need to go over there.) Maybe I could lay some more flags in a much looser, "stepping stone" type pattern over around the crabapple and to the front door, if you think it needs that... So----- these are the questions stopping me from planting now, do you have any opinions? 1) What to put on either side of the front door? 2) Do you like the two evergreens I drew, one in the corner and one next to the bedroom french doors? Any other suggestions other than Chamaecyparis? Could the one in the corner be deciduous... if so, what (needs to remain narrow but with some height)? 3)Can you think of something with mid-summer fragrance to plant in front of the french doors -which will be open then :)? Thanks so much!...See MoreIn Need Of An Organic Lawn Care Schedule
Comments (10)Did you use the milorganite at the recommended bag rate? Because it looks like it hasn't been fertilized in a year. The dark green spots are likely where your dogs pee and turn the grass green. When it is properly fertilized you won't see those spots. During the summer, for the weeks you did not receive a full inch of rain, you should have supplemented the rainfall to get the rest of the inch. When the high temps are barely making 90, then you can go to once every 2 weeks. These water apps should be a full inch all at one time so it soaks down deep. The beauty of an organic regimen is you don't need a schedule. But as a minimum you should fertilize 3x per year. Once in late spring (Memorial Day is good), once in early fall (Labor day is good), and once in late fall (Thanksgiving is good). The normal application rate for a grain type organic fertilizer is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Grain type fertilizers come from grains. SHOCK! Grains include corn and wheat but also beans like soybean and other plants like cottonseed and alfalfa. These are distinguished from the animal matter fertilizers including blood meal, meat meal, fish meal, and others. Another class of organic fertilizer is the animal byproducts like feathers and dung. These work completely opposite from each other but I've put them together just for classification here. Grain type ferts should be used at somewhere between 20 and 50 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Animal products should be used more like 5 pounds per 1,000. Feathers can go on at any rate as they don't decompose very quickly - at least until you have used them for a year or so. Something like poultry litter works well as an additive to other organic fertilizers. Use it at the rate of the other fertilizer schedule. Can you overdo organic fertilizer? No. One of the gurus on another forum wanted to increase the amount of organic matter in his soil, so he applied 50 pounds of Milorganite and soybean meal every weekend all summer long. The only thing that happened is his lawn became the best lawn on the planet for 5 months. Actually it was the best for 12 months because it remained green all through the year. So basically you and your wallet can come up with your own plan. I would use 3 apps per year as a minimum. Grain type organics will not burn so you can use them any day, or every day, of the year. I would get the grass fertilized and get the watering under control before doing anything about the weeds. Once the grass is greened up and the weeds, too, then you can spot spray the weeds with Weed-b-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis liquid. That's the full name. After you get the weeds out, the KBG should fill in and help keep them out. The infrequent watering mentioned above will help keep them out. Mulch mow weekly at a minimum of 3 inches. I've seen KBG mowed at 4 and really like the look. Taller grass holds the water longer and has deeper roots to go get it. It also helps keep weeds out by shading the ground better....See MoreNeed advise on how to handle a problem w/neighbor n garden
Comments (21)Pj, how would I get it between the fences where the problem is, lol? I think its nice looking. Thanks to that link I know know what my favorite hummingbird plant is. Salvia greggii, probably spelled that wrong, lol. I wanted to put a border in on that side since its near the water hose but I don't have that much time to weed as it is and the two fences are an eyesore. With the chainlink gone and both sides planted in a perrenial border the weeds wouldn't have room to grow, lol. I wish my yard looked like his. It looks like better homes and gardens over there. He and his wife are retired and he works in the yard day and night. Its really beautiful. I wanted to put up the privacy fence so I could put a planting border all the way around like he did but then I will have 3 fences to deal with if he won't take his down. I am on the downhill side so anything I put goes into my own yard, lol. I could probably carefully spray roundup but I would feel bad if it got into his beds. They are out of town right now but when he gets back I will talk to him again. Maybe when the time comes that I can do the fence he will agree. I know he is worried about his tiny dogs but who would move in and take down a proffesionally installed wood fence if I ever had to leave? Lol. I have all raised beds because of the poor soil here and invading grass. Its much easier to weed. If you can make raised beds it will protect your roses from any runoff I would think. There is grass killer that isn't supposed to harm plants and thats what he uses in his beds so maybe you can suggest a different control method to your neighbor. I bought some but it doesn't work very well on whatever kind of thick grass looking weed that is growing in between the fences and only comes in small spray bottles so its not cheap to do the whole fence line but seems effective in flower beds. Good luck to you and I hope the raised beds is the solution you are looking for....See Moreretraining puppy and adult dog: advice needed
Comments (7)I need some more information. Are any of your dogs fixed? This could be a problem right there. Have multiple females can cause problems with Alpha female marking, and the girls will end up marking just like boy dogs do. You write "The puppy was never properly housebroken, and as a result, has recently gone from being "half" housebroken, to not wanting to do ANYTHING outside." How come this pup was not housebroken? Can you shed light on this? Curiously, she is only interested in swallowing possible goodies on the street, but not minimally intrigued by the smell of other dogs, including the older two. There is a couple of ways to stop this behavior and it is my opinion that the sooner the better, because poisonings do happen, and I would hate to hear of it. While walking your puppy, if she puts something in her mouth she is not suppose to have IE anything you dont give her, get a travel sized toothpaste tube or a small bottle of tobasco sauce and dab her tongue. Now there are people who have had a cow when I said I dabbed my dogs tongue with toothpaste because YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO SWALLOW IT, well you only need a small amount, the mintier the better, and hopefully you wont need to do it for long, I dabbed my dogs tongue, told him to leave it, maybe three times, since then all he eats is grass. Besides I would rather dab his tongue a half a dozen times then end up with a sick dog because he does not know any better. Some dogs like the taste of toothpaste, try the tobasco sauce. Is there an age at which puppies/dogs become attracted to the smell of other dogs? Is it normal that at 1 year she is not? Your dogs behavior is not normal, but I dont know much of her history, where she comes from, if you take her out everyday for walks or not, or what her daily routine is, the more info you can give, the better. As if on cue, one of my other dogs, has decided to "keep the puppy company"... so now I have two soiling dogs at home, although the 6 year old only does this occasionally during the day, but apparently every night. *I am wondering if the puppy is fixed or not...this might explain your older dogs behavior, best to get the older one into the vet for a check up tho, this could be a sign of things not being right and it happening just when your puppy is doing it might be coincidental. Does anyone know how I can change this? When you say the person at your house takes them out during the day, what does this mean, takes them out back in a fenced yard to romp, or actually takes them for a good long walk. Your puppy might be suffering from what I call the fishbowl disease, where she is not getting enough outside stimulation. Sounds like her walkies is more about eating and sniffing than about walking. Walking with your pup should not be a stroll. it should be the first 5 minutes being duty time and the rest an outright brisk walk. This helps pups focus and helps them pay attention and helps rid them of excessive energy. Please fill in some more of the blanks and lets see if we can get this problem figured out....See More- 17 years ago
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