Should gardens have separate areas for dogs to relieve themselves, even if the dog has access to the whole garden?
Check out the new article on this topic
Gardeners Diary
Archived Posts from this Category
February 4, 2011
Now is the time of year for those wonderful Hellebores (Lentern roses) to start to shine. Over the last year their leaves have darkened to a deep green and become surprising leathery. They have fulfilled their purpose of providing a foil to the stars of the garden, but now is the time to cut back those leaves and reveal the beautiful flowers that have been slowly burgeoning under their shade.
When those leaves have been removed, they will reveal those beautiful buds and you can watch them as, day by day, those buds turn into the most beautiful of flowers. Most of my hellebores are by my back door so that I can see them easily every time I let the dogs out into the garden – they really do make you feel that Spring is just around the corner.
Don’t worry if a frost comes and makes those flowers droop, within a few hours they will be back to their fully glory.
January 27, 2011
One of the visitors at my opening last year was a garden designer who wanted to know what a garden created with dogs in mind could look like. She explained that when she was contacted by prospective clients with dogs, her heart normally fell in anticipation of the problems that the dog (s) might cause for her design.
This conversation got me thinking. There must be many other garden designers out there with the same concerns. I therefore approached our local agricultural college’s horticultural department to find out if they might be interested in a presentation on the topic for their design students. Luckily, they were very receptive to the idea and we set a date for my visit. When we arranged this last August, early February seemed a very long while off.
Well now the date is almost upon me. The presentation is in its final stages. I have had great fun putting it together and have been glad of all the photos that I have taken over the last year, just in case they might come in useful. So all that I have to do now is my final rehearsals. I’m really looking forward to the day, in just over a week’s time.
Gardening and dogs 