imagine creating a fido delicious peaceful paradise backyard both for us humans and cici…
I’d like it to have a garden, fountain, pool/water, a sand box for cici to dig and a bunch of plants, trees with fruit… perhaps…
need a wooden box, organic soil, flowers and plants, wheat grass, grass and oat grass seeds, veggie, fruit seeds, wild bird seed, rocks, herbs, water fountain, fruit trees, sand box and more…
already put an ad on freecycle and craigslist, but so far, nada.
if you have any other suggestions on how to get any of the above for free or inexpensively, or if you’d like to donate, every little bit helps, thanks.
At the Cambria Pines Lodge, they have an amazing organic garden with a flower bed (shown below)… would love to recreate something like that. we’ve got a wheelbarrow and a wooden futon frame that I could get creative with.
Also want to create a community garden… and have artists paint the fence with murals. there is graffiti already on one side of the fence (outside) that could be painted over… images of PEACE… calming… Findhorn garden… a showcase for talented artists in this community…
this is an amazing peace site:
http://www.wherepeacelives.org/peace-murals.html
how to do this without spending a fortune????
and just how to do this hands on practically… this site has some great ideas, tips and resources…
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2007/02/10/homes.nw-901049.sto
Nobody speaks for Fido when it comes to the backyard landscape. Yet he spends more time there than anyone else in the family.
What I call a K-9 conscious garden design blends amenities for you and your dog into a harmonious space. It also addresses the most common safety problems that can hurt your pooch and send your vet bill into the stratosphere.
Dogs are naturally mobile creatures, forever on the hunt for food like their ancestors the wolves. When they are cooped up with nothing interesting or mysterious to explore, they adopt undesirable behaviors out of frustration and boredom. Planting a tall grass meadow with flowers is not only a beautiful, wildlife-friendly form of gardening, it gives your dog hours of investigatory pleasure every day. Sure, manicured lawns are great for Frisbee, but when you’re at work that meadow becomes a primal bit of heaven for man’s best friend.
If you live in the city and don’t have room for a meadow, here’s a good alternative. Wheat grass juice is a big health drink for us and it’s just as good for dogs. They will naturally graze on it when they need the nutrients it contains rather than browsing your flowerpots. Consider planting wheat grass in low, wide troughs. Use flat plastic under-the-bed storage boxes with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. Fill the boxes with potting soil and sow with seed. Dirt-cheap organic seed for wheat and oats can be found in the bread-making section of the health food store.
Since ancient times, herbs have been used to repel fleas in human dwellings. They’ll also discourage fleas in the yard and in your dog’s general hangout areas. If you grow enough of them you can cut the branches, dry and use them to stuff your dog’s bed for a natural pesticide. Many herbs were once known as fleabane because they are so widely used for this purpose, and some may also discourage ticks.
Plant a fleabane garden or incorporate fleabane plants around the garden. When my dog Dot rubs against them I can smell the aromatic oils on her fur, which not only discourages pests, it covers up dog smell with fragrance! I recommend Menta pulegium, also known as pennyroyal. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthum) is also beautiful silvery gray plant and quite effective, too. Old-fashioned tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is top of the list, as well. All are perennial. When you shop, insist on the botanical names to ensure you get the exact plant that repels fleas.
Keep in mind, too, that some plants and landscaping materials are very bad for dogs. Vets say that when dogs are bored they will chew on most anything, and when that something is toxic you have a problem. Cocoa bean mulch contains caffeine and hulls of nuts falling from trees are rich in tannin, so both can be highly toxic if chewed. These include domestic walnuts or wild hickory. A few of the many plants poisonous to dogs are castor bean, foxglove, pokeweed, buckeye and yew. The master list of dog-toxic plants can be found at the ASPCA web site,http://www.aspca.org/toxicplants.
happy dogs sunbathing… cici LOVES to lie in the dirt in the yard and enjoy the rays… this is Little Red with her new dog pal / new home… (Little Red, one of the former v-dogs)…
A tip for pooches eating plants:
If your dog is chewing up your plants, this spicy, cayenne pepper
spray solution may be enough to discourage them. Be
aware that it requires repeated applications. The effectiveness
wears off in a day or two. The rain and automatic sprinklers
also wash it away. A dog won’t be discouraged by just one hot
bite either. They’ll go back and test it a few times with undesirable
results before they finally accept that the plant is not
worth tampering with. Use this spray every day for a couple
of weeks to condition the dog to leave the plant alone. Be sure
to spray the plant early in the morning so that the spray can
dry out before the sun hits the leaves.
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons powdered garlic
2 Cups hot water
Stir the cayenne pepper and garlic into hot water. Allow it to
set a few minutes then strain the remnants of the spices
through a fine kitchen sieve. Pour the strained liquid into a
plant spray bottle. Use as needed.
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