I am a confirmed, dyed in the wool DIY'er and with budget limitations that further require this approach. I feel as if I am smart, I know how to research, and so I should be able to learn how to do almost anything well enough to suit me needs. My previous homes landscaping was my first foray into the field and I attacked it- I read, I went on garden tours, I went to plant shows, seminars, and everything else under the sun to learn the basics. As a result I had a yard full of plants that had each been moved ten times in order to try and obtain the look I wanted. It was exhausting and this method continued for nearly six years. We joked about my plants having frequent flyer miles- my husband is a saint because he dug, moved things, and did everything I asked over and over and over in my attempts to capture a look. The money we spent on plants! Only to remove them and give them away when they did not work- it is sickening how much time and money we wasted. When we decided to redo all of our fencing I took the plunge and hired a landscape designer to make me a plan that we could implement as funds allowed. I was on a totally tight budget and did everything I could to make it easy for her to do my job- I had a survey ready for her, I had measurements, I had a list of every plant I owned that I wanted to incorporate and a list of those species I did not want, and I had clear ideas of the function of each space within my yard. She came up with a plan that totally did it for me. This was in 1996 and I think it cost me something like $350. The only items I had her company install were three larger shade trees. Everything else we did on our own over the next few years and it turned out beautifully. I know for a fact that is what sold the house in a very poor real estate market in '07- the house itself had problems but the curb and garden appeal were off the charts and the rear garden was a wonderland. Which is my long winded way of telling you that IMO spending money on a solid design up front is far cheaper in the long run that trying to do it yourself, especially if you don't have a demonstrated knack for it. You can spend that much money on plants at Home Depot in one weekend only to have half of them fail from being repeatedly moved or be inappropriate to your needs once you get them home. It would be FAR cheaper and more efficient, IMO, to work off of a sound design from the beginning. If you like you can substitute various plants within the design but the solid bones of the plan- the balance, the scale, working with textures- some things just go more smoothly and successfully when you bring an expert into the process. Of course you can do what you like- but IMO planting a plant one time and having it be the right plant for the specific spot that serves the intended purpose and renders you a gorgeous, easily maintained, well functioning yard- well that's worth the price of a professional design. I don't have any idea what they are charging nowadays but I do know that this yard will be with you for decades, or at least as long as you remain in the home. It is your daily environment, it influences your life constantly, it is the space our kids grow up in and remember all their lives. Even if I had to skip this years vacation or put off that bigger TV I would try and find a way to insure that my design was sound and the best way to accomplish that, IMO, is to have a pro do it.

As a dog owner myself, I can relate to your issues regarding dogs/grass/digging/yellow spots/etc. I really wonder though, do you think your dogs would enjoy the flagstone surface? As some others have said, it will get hot. I know my dogs love nothing better than lounging in the shade under a spruce tree (and getting sap in their hair) on a hot day. On grass. Softer, you know? Is digging the only issue or are you also concerned about yellow spots from urination and/or the grass is too high maintenance? If digging is the only concern, have you read some of the training books that suggest designing a single designated spot where the dogs are allowed, even encouraged, to dig and teaching them that they are NOT ALLOWED to dig anywhere else? It takes some time and work, but can certainly be done. Just my opinion, I think the dogs would appreciate some grass. Ann

A couple of issues. How long ago did you put in top soil and sod? Normal levels of reasonably acidic soils are not going to burn through a top level of added good soil and the soil that comes with the sod in any short period of time. Unless you are watering it with battery acid, it should have done well for a reasonable length of time if you kept it adequately watered and decently fertilized. Second, your pic shows an entire yard, fence to fence, that is completely bare. Shading from the fence, if a factor of any significance, by itself might affect the viability of grass for two to three feet from the fence - max. Odds are you have other issues affecting a back yard with top soil and sod added to it. Any one or more of those suggested above might be contributing. Adding lime might be one of the things you can do to help get it headed in the right direction. But, you probably have a number of steps you need to take to alleviate what can be described a wall to wall disaster.

Sod is often attached to (actually grown through) a plastic netting as it hold the rolls or sheet together during transport and installation. Hydroseeding is just spraying in a slurry of grass seed, fertilizer and some sort of cellulose stabilizer - no netting involved. You want raised beds to be in contact with the underlying soil - no gravel or weed cloth. Smothering the existing growth with overlapping layers of cardboard is easy and effective and it will decompose in time, allowing the roots of the raised bed plants to penetrate down as deeply as they like. Using a prepared herbicide according to label directions is really the best way to approach weeds in the lawn, particularly if there are more weeds than lawn. In fact, if it is really bad, razing the entire lawn and starting over may be the simplest way to go. As long as you don't spray any herbicides (plant killers) directly on what you are going to eat (and if you think about, it that makes no sense anyway!!), then there is really very little concern. Most of these products breakdown in the soil quite rapidly with rain/irrigation and the activity of the soil biology into harmless elements and they are not taken up into the plants or fruit. Weeds in dedicated planting beds that already contain valuable or desired perennials and shrubs are best handled with manual removal to avoid damaging the desired plants - herbicides can't tell the difference between a weed or anything else that might be growing :-) If you do not intend to add any plantings in these areas right away, then smothering with cardboard will work well too, at least for most weeds. Cover the cardboard with a good thick layer of mulch to keep it damp and hasten decomposition. And mulch any other bare ground after removing any weeds. Mulch is about the best weed suppressor there is and is of multiple benefits to the garden.