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If you are a dog owner and dog lover, you’ll want to create the perfect landscape for your dog while, at the same time, creating a landscape you can live with as well. This will provide every member of the family, including those with four legs, a landscape they can enjoy.

Challenges for Dog-Friendly Landscapes

There are quite a few challenges for the [dog owner] that wants a landscape that is perfect for the pet but pleasing to humans too. Dogs tend to wear paths, especially along fence lines because they are territorial. They are known for lying down in your favorite flower bed and smashing all the plants. They often like to dig down to the cool soil, and their urine can create burn spots in grass.

The first planning step to resolving these challenges is to study you dog and how it likes to use the landscape. Where does he like to nap? Where does he play? What are his favorite spots to urinate or defecate? What views does he like to sit or lie down and watch? And, where does he simply insist on digging a hole for snuggling into cool soil? Oh, yes, let’s not forget to identify where he tracks mud into the house!

Solutions for the Perfect Dog Landscape

First, let’s look at the problem of dogs wearing pathways through the landscape. If the dog is using this pathway, you might as well accept it as a necessary path in your landscape and create a walkway of stone or paving blocks. You could also solve the problem by using mulch, but that can invite digging, so it is best to create a pathway using a hardscape method. If your dog wears a path around the fence line, include that in your pathway creation and it will discourage the dog from wanting to attempt to dig underneath the fence.

To prevent mud being tracked into your house, create a buffer space between the landscape and the doorway your dog uses to allow him to wipe his feet or allow the dirt to wear off his feet before entering the house. An area of small gravel will do the job nicely. A long walkway to the entrance can solve the problem very attractively as well.

Dogs love shade in which to lounge but they also love to dig which can damage the roots of trees. To protect the root systems, you can apply thick layers of mulch around the trees and edge stones around the mulch. Or, if the tree is large and very well established, you can accept the fact that shade trees don’t make a friendly spot for grass anyway and allow the dog to do what comes naturally.

Including Landscape Flowers

If you want to include flowers in your landscape, you will need to place them behind a fence if you want to ensure the dog doesn’t smash them. Or you could choose to train your dog that this simply isn’t the place to lie down. Teach your dog that good manners are expected both in the house and outside and provide him places he loves, he won’t be nearly as likely to invade your flower garden.

Once you have identified the places your dog likes to go potty, create him his very own bathroom area there. Place a thick bed of mulch over the area he normally does his business and encourage him to go there and no where else. Dog urine can burn grass, so if you want a lawn, this is a necessity.

An important step in planning a is making sure the plants you select are not poison to your pet. Many of the “old standards” for landscaping, such as rhododendron, asparagus fern, gladiolas, and many others, can make you dog ill if he chooses to ingest enough. Get a complete list of the plants common to your region that are poisonous to pets from your local county extension service agent or garden shop.

You’ll have a landscape that you and your dog can enjoy together. The landscape will be attractive and practical, and actually quite low maintenance due to the use of hardscaping

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So, you finally bought that large lot you've been dreaming of and now you are ready to landscape it, but you only have a shoestring budget to accomplish the task. Well, if you use some inexpensive landscaping ideas, you can turn your acre lot into an appealing, pleasant environment for you and your family to enjoy.

When dealing with large lots, consider the fact that less is really more. Of course, you'll want to plan in an area of shade, probably some flowers along the fence line, maybe a water feature, but you do not want to get carried away and make the landscape too busy. You want to have a huge open expanse of nothing but green, lush grass. Why? There are two reasons: it is easier to mow and you'll have plenty of space to put up the volley ball net, play lawn sports, throw the Frisbee to the dog, and other open air activities.

Plant trees for shade

Choose a corner of the lot either near the house or out near the property fence line to plant your shade trees. Choose a species that is quick growing so you'll be able to enjoy the shade in only a few years. Purchase a large a specimen as you can afford, but that doesn't mean it has to be expensive. You can get year-old saplings of poplar, oak, and other quick growing trees for not too large an investment. When planning exactly where to place the plant, consider the size the tree will be 20 years in the future rather than the size of the plant today. Allow plenty of room for roots and canopy without infringing on your neighbor's property or your dwelling. If you do not choose a dense shade tree, then plant several less dense trees in a group to create a small grove for your shady area.

If you have a privacy fence around the entire area, you may wish to incorporate vines in the landscape which will attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Any vine which produces a red or pink bloom will work very well for this purpose. Cypress vine, called in some areas the hummingbird vine, is a perfect annual vine that will quickly cover your fence in the springtime, attract hummingbirds and butterflies, then die off with the coming fall. It is easy to remove from the fence line and will reappear the next spring from the seeds it drops into the soil or you can collect the seeds from the vine

Choose plants and flowers wisely

Limit your flower garden and shrubbery to small areas so that you have neither the expense or maintenance involved with a huge garden. Choose wisely and place the plants carefully to gain the most impact from your choices rather than crowding lots of plants into the landscape.

Ornamental grasses are a nice way to make an impact on a large lot. You can plant pampas grass or plume grass along the drive way to create an elegant entrance way into the property. Short growing ornamental grasses also make great borders for flower garden areas.

A bird bath, water fall, or fountain can add interest with very little cost. Plus, it provides a great service to wildlife during dry summer months by providing a needed source of drinking and bathing water.

As you plan, remember that one acre is a lot of land when it comes time to prune, rake, and do other maintenance that overstocking the landscape can demand. After all, you purchased you large lot to enjoy, not to become a slave to the [landscape]. So, invest in less and when positioned in the right places, it really will be much more enjoyment that you ever expected.