Unfortunate fact is: you've gotta irrigate. Seed with something durable like Zoysia and water nicely in the early AM to get the water down before the dogs hit the ground running. When we bought our house the previous summer, the PO's three big dogs had turned the 1/3 acre backyard into a veritable sand lot. Regular watering has been slowly bringing the greenery back to life (but quietly killing the bank account). I'm not being picky about what grows. We've got a mix St. Augustine, Bahia, centipede (I think, might be Bermuda)grasses liberally peppered with a plethora of weeds. I pick my battles. There's a neat crinkly-leafed low growing plant that grows great under our big maple that withstood doggy trampling, so I declared it ground cover and let it grow. Too bad frost knocked it back, but I think it'll come back. No sand on doggie feet there! There's also a shaded area along the side of the house where the only thing that grows is purple nutsedge. Again, I've opted to let that grow in that area and once grass starts to make its way into the area I'll start ripping that out. Is our lawn the envy of the neighbors? NO. The only green in the front lawn right now is the clover growing rampant over the septic tank. We do have at least 1000% more grass than what was alive when we took possession, so we're going to continue as we are. We've never been particularly fond of the "manicured lawn" culture and the fewer chemicals I use, the happier I am (though I was well irked when I lost half my tomato plants to spider mites.) Another big help in the battle against the sand incursion into the house was building decking and flagstone areas around the existing patio. We get a place to sit and the dog's got a good long path to follow dropping sand before she hits the living space. Patience, water and taking the dogs out for long walks rather than depending on the backyard for all their exercise needs will cut the sand dunes down inside the house. That and embracing vacuuming daily. If you got pets, you gotta vacuum every day. 'sa fact, Jack!

I might trade you my one geriatric bladder compromised cat for two of your cute little kittens. lol My old cat probably needs to be put down but I don't have the heart. I have to keep her shut up away from the carpet unless she's right with me. I put her out on the deck or patio occasionally but I can't leave her outside long because she's a bit crippled and couldn't get away from a dog. Ok - Here's my story about Jackson: My daughter who just turned 18 is the one who brought him home. She LOVES dogs and always has from the time she was big enough to point at pictures of dogs in books. Everything she wanted for Christmas for several years had a dog/puppy theme, clothes, books, toys etc. Anyway - A few weeks ago we were in the living room.... Daughter: "Mom I need to tell you something" Me: "okay" Daughter: "I've been wanting to tell you for awhile" Me: "okay what?" Daughter: "Promise not to ground me" Me: knowing not to argue "okay" Daughter: "Promise not to take my phone away" Me: now getting a bit concerned "okay" Daughter: "You know how I said Jackson was a stray?" Me: now getting more than a bit concerned "yeah" Daughter: "Well he wasn't" Me: "What?!" My daughter has never stolen anything that I know of but that was my first thought. She didn't (thank goodness). She told me that a friend of a friend was planning to move out of state and couldn't take her dog with her. She was looking for a home for it and my daughter wanted the dog. She'd never even seen it but it was a dog after all. So they cooked up a scheme. Her friend and the dog's owner met her across three fields on another road more than a half mile away with the dog. My daughter walked, and they drove to the spot at an agreed time. My daughter MADE mud and took it with her to rub on the dog so it would look more like a stray. They scratched out the writing on his rabies tag so it couldn't be traced and she carried him home. She had been told that it was a dachshund mix which he is, but STANDARD dachshund not the itty bitty kind so he's very heavy, between 30 and 40 pounds. She carried her new muddy dog about a quarter mile towards our house and then called me out of breath from her cell phone to tell me she had "caught" a stray dog at the back of our field and could she bring it home and feed it. So after I spent a few weeks looking through every lost-dog site on the internet, posting in the paper, making signs, taking him to the vet to have him scanned for a chip, etc, we gave in and decided to let her keep him. The kids had all voted on a name for him and decided to call him Jackson. Well his name was ALREADY Jackson. My daughter had told her two sisters where he really came from and they kept her secret for a few months until she finally told me. My hubby still doesn't know. I'm not sure he would see the humor in it. I'm having some trouble seeing the humor myself. lol So...That's Jackson's true story (to the best of my knowledge) lol Here's what I posted back in June and it has another photo and a video of him. Here is a link that might be useful: Me - in the dark - posting about the

While play sets are great, they are expensive and do take up space . . . And you can always take your kids to a playground. You can't take them to a sandbox (well, unless you live near the beach), nor can you take them to a trampoline. My kids had a single swing on a tree branch, and it was heavily used for YEARS. They also had a Little Tikes slide. They didn't use it for years, but they did use it intensely around 1.5-2.5 years. Literally, they'd slide, the run around to slide again . . . Maybe 50 times in a row. Somehow it was a big confidence builder. Lots of playtime for something that cost $2 at a yard sale . . . And then went to younger nieces and nephews. Ditto for the sandbox. My kids used it, used it, used it. You can get one with a lid. When I have grandchildren, I think I'll build a really big, really fine sandbox. My kids did love it so. I don't remember sand in the house being an issue, but we didn't keep the sandbox particularly near the back door, so the sand had space to fall off. When our kids were in elementary school, my husband bought a trampoline, which he said had been his favorite toy growing up. No other toy was used as much for as many years as that trampoline. They jumped on it every single day, they'd lay on it and read. They even slept out on it a couple times. We did make strict rules about shoes and multiple jumpers. And we didn't allow them to bring the dog up (for fear her claws would cut the material and/or the dog would break her legs jumping off). You do need some kind of a step to help the kids access the trampoline, and I'd recommend a safety net.

If you are in "desperate need of a landscape plan", then you are in desperate need of a landscape designer :-) Many designers will prepare a plan for you to be able to follow on your own as a DIY project, hiring out only those areas that may need a professional hand. You are just not going to get much of a detailed response/plan online that you will be able to follow well......too much infomation is lacking. But you can check wth local nurseries for recommendations, try Angie's List or similar clearinghouse or if in the US, see if there is a local chapter of the Association of Professional Lanscape Designers (APLD). You can prepare a landscape plan on your own but the learning curve is very high. Hiring a designer is really a very modest investment but one that will streamline the process and is most likely to generate a successful result. The primary expense associated with landscaping is in the materials and the labor involved, not with the design.