RubyStar Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hoping you guys can help! I've had some new grass laid quite a few months ago, but it's not taking too well - practically dying! I am moving into the house in the next week or two with my two Labs, thinking by now the grass would be nice and establishe, ready for their playful zoomies! But nope, doesn't look like it, the grass is still too fragile to let the dogs have free run of it so I am hoping to find a way to keep them off it for a few months. I have read on here about the Bunnings garden waste/compost cages, but not sure if they will be suitable to what I want. I have a patio area that the dogs can be under while I'm at work, then as the house ends, the grass starts. I want to put a barrier up from the edge of the house to the fence, leaving the patio area the only area the dogs can access. Can anyone suggest anything please? Could I make the compost cages work in this scenario somehow? (not sure how do they stand up if they're not forming a shape with sides to make them sturdy!) Or can anyone think of another solution? I'm getting desperate now as I'm only about a week or so off moving in! I've put so much effort and not to mention money putting this new lawn down, that I want to give it every chance possible to eventually take enough so the dogs can enjoy it, before they wreck it while they play! Here is a picture showing the brick wall where I want it to run from, to the fence. And how ghastly my lawn looks!! Hopefully the picture will help with some ideas on how to achieve a dog free zone on the grass Looking forward to some help! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodle proud Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hoping you guys can help! I've had some new grass laid quite a few months ago, but it's not taking too well - practically dying! I am moving into the house in the next week or two with my two Labs, thinking by now the grass would be nice and establishe, ready for their playful zoomies! But nope, doesn't look like it, the grass is still too fragile to let the dogs have free run of it so I am hoping to find a way to keep them off it for a few months.I have read on here about the Bunnings garden waste/compost cages, but not sure if they will be suitable to what I want. I have a patio area that the dogs can be under while I'm at work, then as the house ends, the grass starts. I want to put a barrier up from the edge of the house to the fence, leaving the patio area the only area the dogs can access. Can anyone suggest anything please? Could I make the compost cages work in this scenario somehow? (not sure how do they stand up if they're not forming a shape with sides to make them sturdy!) Or can anyone think of another solution? I'm getting desperate now as I'm only about a week or so off moving in! I've put so much effort and not to mention money putting this new lawn down, that I want to give it every chance possible to eventually take enough so the dogs can enjoy it, before they wreck it while they play! Here is a picture showing the brick wall where I want it to run from, to the fence. And how ghastly my lawn looks!! Hopefully the picture will help with some ideas on how to achieve a dog free zone on the grass Looking forward to some help! Thanks! The compost cages for that size would get pretty exe I imagine. At Bunnings there is plastic mesh stuff you can buy in rolls. We used this on our metal fence to keep midnight from escaping (see my signature pic). If you used wooden/metal stakes that might work. We bought the biggest roll and cut it down to the needed size so it was more economical that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Star pickets and chicken wire?? Wont look too nice but would be cheap and easy... Otherwise puppy pens that have the pegs to push them into the ground. More expensive but you could use them later on too. A pen with 6 x 90cm panels will do at least 5m. How long is the space that you need to block off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 So the fence has to sit on concrete? Maybe you could get hold of about five old car wheels (without the tyre) and fill with concrete and set a star picket upright in each of them. Then you will be able to buy a roll of dog mesh and use bits of wire or black cable ties to fix it to your poles. You could use chain mesh if your labbies are inclined to try to push at the dog wire to get through. I am not sure if the gaps would be small enough to stop labbies escaping, but the only way a fence like that would be strong enough is to have a very stable base. I would look at using a star-picket fence in the actual lawn instead of on the patio, and allowing the dogs to have one small corner of grass. Not big enough to do zoomies, but large enough to easily establish good toileting habits in the new home. Then the fence could be moved over time to give different areas of the lawn a rest. Try to grow the lawn very long and thick, so the roots grow deep. Don't mow short or water too frequently. With that large shade tree, you may never get a lawn that is really zoomie proof with such large dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissindra Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 (edited) you can use tent pegs pushed in to the ground with the end holding the bottom of the panels in place to stabalise the compost cage panels, we did this when we went camping and used the panel to make a pen around the tent entrance Edited January 16, 2010 by Kissindra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikesPuppy Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 I am using the compost cages to make my puppy run, they are about $25 for a set of 4 panels. I will be supporting them by using cable ties to attach them to star pickets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 (edited) Thankyou everyone for your suggestions, very helpful! I went away and thought about it and decided I'll do the barrier along the grass line, not the patio, so I can use star pickets. My mum actually suggested using mesh too If I'm blocking the lawn perimeter then the mesh will be more cost efficient I'm guessing, I think it's 11m long I need to block off doing it that way. Gretymate, thankyou for the toileting suggestion, a thing I didn't even think of!! I don't want them to go under the patio so yes I will do your suggestion and leave a bit exposed to them that has taken better than another area, then switch around (every 2 weeks you'd think would be sufficient?) The lawn was topdressed today and I trimmed more of the tree back so I am hoping for better results ;) Thanks again everyone! Edited January 16, 2010 by RubyStar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkeyre Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Thankyou everyone for your suggestions, very helpful! I went away and thought about it and decided I'll do the barrier along the grass line, not the patio, so I can use star pickets. My mum actually suggested using mesh too If I'm blocking the lawn perimeter then the mesh will be more cost efficient I'm guessing, I think it's 11m long I need to block off doing it that way.Gretymate, thankyou for the toileting suggestion, a thing I didn't even think of!! I don't want them to go under the patio so yes I will do your suggestion and leave a bit exposed to them that has taken better than another area, then switch around (every 2 weeks you'd think would be sufficient?) The lawn was topdressed today and I trimmed more of the tree back so I am hoping for better results ;) Thanks again everyone! How about buying a pet containment system? A radio fence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralPug Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 How about buying a pet containment system? A radio fence? I think the OP only wants to keep them off the grass for a few weeks to let it establish properly. The radio fences (work for some, not others) are supposed to teach permanent boundaries, aren't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkeyre Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 How about buying a pet containment system? A radio fence? I think the OP only wants to keep them off the grass for a few weeks to let it establish properly. The radio fences (work for some, not others) are supposed to teach permanent boundaries, aren't they? for my dogs it has taught a permanent boundary, as my bitch jumps the fence.. so by having the radio fence run along the existing fence, my girl stays away from the fence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Whatever you put up, the labs will have great fun dismantling Also they will now learn to toilet on the patio.... best of luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 How about buying a pet containment system? A radio fence? I think the OP only wants to keep them off the grass for a few weeks to let it establish properly. The radio fences (work for some, not others) are supposed to teach permanent boundaries, aren't they? for my dogs it has taught a permanent boundary, as my bitch jumps the fence.. so by having the radio fence run along the existing fence, my girl stays away from the fence. Yes it's only for a few weeks/months so permanent solution not required - would be too costly and the grass is actually FOR them so I want them to enjoy it! I just want it to grow a bit before that happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macka Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Have you been watering it enough? You really need to water new grass... a lot! Like an hour sprinkler a day. Good luck, hope it recovers soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 (edited) Have you been watering it enough? You really need to water new grass... a lot! Like an hour sprinkler a day. Good luck, hope it recovers soon! Gosh, really? Grass needs WATERING?! ;) Yeah I've been painfully watering it to no avail But hmm, not for an hour a day, that seems excessive! Plus we have water restrictions. Thanks, I hope so too! It's garbage grass though, and I suspect that the soil it was grown in at the turf farm is the culprit for the toadstools I now have growing there as well! They weren't there before the new grass Of course, I can't prove it, so just have to keep checking the grass every morning and night for them to pull them out before the dogs eat them! 7 or so weeks straight with no drop of rain here in Perth certainly hasn't helped matters, that's for sure. We neeeeeeeeed rain Edited January 16, 2010 by RubyStar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macka Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 (edited) Have you been watering it enough? You really need to water new grass... a lot! :D Like an hour sprinkler a day. Good luck, hope it recovers soon! Gosh, really? Grass needs WATERING?! Yeah I've been painfully watering it to no avail But hmm, not for an hour a day, that seems excessive! Plus we have water restrictions. Thanks, I hope so too! It's garbage grass though, and I suspect that the soil it was grown in at the turf farm is the culprit for the toadstools I now have growing there as well! They weren't there before the new grass Of course, I can't prove it, so just have to keep checking the grass every morning and night for them to pull them out before the dogs eat them! 7 or so weeks straight with no drop of rain here in Perth certainly hasn't helped matters, that's for sure. We neeeeeeeeed rain :laugh: Yeah I know that stuff that falls from the sky makes stuff grow, it's great! Water restrictions are an issue... but if you paid for all that nice new grass, I'd be watering the hell out of it. Bad luck about the toadstools, we have a couple pop up from time to time at our place as well. Edited January 16, 2010 by macka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 (edited) water the turf- advertiseit for sale..buy bark chips or gravel for the yard :D MUCH less hassle..... no watering...no holes, no mowing.. oh- and watering lawn each day is really BAAD.. it keep the roots just below the surface- so they cook and die Lawn - esp new stuff needs to be SOAKED... so the underneath soil is wet. Otherwise the roots will not/can not grow ... and the turf dies. Soaked is not a hand sprinkle- or even a sprinkler on for an hour.... it is watering deeply for a few hours once a week....... if you have sandy soil... the water will just run thru and need deep soakinhg regularly Edited January 16, 2010 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 water the turf- advertiseit for sale..buy bark chips or gravel for the yard MUCH less hassle..... no watering...no holes, no mowing..oh- and watering lawn each day is really BAAD.. it keep the roots just below the surface- so they cook and die Lawn - esp new stuff needs to be SOAKED... so the underneath soil is wet. Otherwise the roots will not/can not grow ... and the turf dies. Soaked is not a hand sprinkle- or even a sprinkler on for an hour.... it is watering deeply for a few hours once a week....... if you have sandy soil... the water will just run thru and need deep soakinhg regularly Yes it would be easier, except, I want grass Makes the whole backyard feel cooler and "peaceful" with the tree and all, just how I view it I guess :D Thanks for the tip. How do you deep water a lawn though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 You put in underground drippers before you install the turf . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 oh- and watering lawn each day is really BAAD.. it keep the roots just below the surface- so they cook and die A bit like this? I actually think there is a worse patch in the yard, behind the tree. This is the best patch I have And just to see how bad I am at this gardening thing, this is what it looked like the day it was laid :D (no leaves on tree blocking sunlight here either, but I know this can't be the whole reason it's dying!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 You put in underground drippers before you install the turf . Budget, my dear. I would have installed reticulation could I afford it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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