If you lived in Denver this past April, perhaps you would understand why we finally hit our breaking point with our backyard. Part of the problem is that we now have two girls, and unlike the boys who nicely lift their leg to potty, the girls do their business right on the grass. Urine is basic in nature and we have heard about people giving acidic foods like tomato juice to their pups to help even out the PH. However, we weren’t ever very keen on changing their diet; acidic urine can cause issues like UTIs, vaginitis, should we go on?
The bottom line is that Karma killed the grass. That even sounds funny. Marc tries to stay on top of it all Spring and Summer by planting new grass, but bare spots are impossible to deal with in the winter. Plus, Halo joined the household last November and just made the grass situation worse.
Fast forward to this Spring and the snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm. Which translates to melted snow and muddy house, muddy house, muddy house. Sick of cleaning the floors over and over, we decided we needed a yard make-over.
We did a ton of research and finally settled on these items:
–Pea gravel: it’s heavy enough not to get stuck in their feet and carried into the house. Also, since we had existing sprinklers, it is much easier to keep clean than mulch. Also, our dogs would have definitely eaten the mulch — and some mulch is poinsonous to dogs!
–Wrought iron gate: low maintenance, powder coated, and weather resistant.
–Planters: To add some greenery to the space and some additional shade. We made ours out of cedar fencing and 2x4s.
We hit a few hiccups along the road. The biggest issue was discovered when we ripped out all the grass and turned the dirt. We found that there were areas below and right above the ground level where the mortar was missing. Our house was built in the early 1900s, and back then it was two layers of brick, instead of brick on a cement foundation. Trying to get someone out to do the estimate and the tuck pointing work pushed us back a little.
But, all-in-all, considering we had weekends off for Vizsla Nationals, dog shows, and agility trials…we finished it all up pretty quickly! The best part is that the new grass we planted in the other half of the yard is sprouting!
Here are the links to the vendors we used:
-Fence Right (for the fence): http://www.fencerightdenver.com/
-Pioneer Sand (for the gravel): http://pioneersand.com/landscape-supplies-locations/landscape-supply-locations.htm
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