I'm trying to figure out what to do for ground cover for my backyard and could use some advice.
I have two decent sized dogs and they roll around and throw dirt around when running in the yard. The back yard at the moment is dirt with stones and some boulders that I'll be moving. I live in the San Bernadino moutains of Southern California a little below Lake Arrowhead specifically zone 9B. I'm on the fence between trying grass like tall fescue/rye or some sort of Clover but I have no idea what I'm doing.
The ground cover will be going in the red lines and the little tree in the middle of the yard I'll be taking out.
I mainly want to prevent erosion, keep my dogs from rolling around in straight mud, and not just have a dirt backyard where my dogs get all dirty. I also want something that is relatively low maintenance and not resource intensive. But I'll go with regular grass and deal with the high water bills during the summer if I have to.
Any helps appreciated.
by somewolf69
4 Comments
I feel like my situation is somewhat unique due to my geographic location and enviroment. We have some snow in the winter, an ok amount of moisture outside of summer. Higer elevation 4600 feet above Sea level, and a lot of fog outside of the summer. I mainly see no lawns or Turf, but there is one yard close to me with grass. So I know it’s trchnically possible.
Does California have a native plant society? Membership is only about $30/year and they can help you out.
Based on your ecoregion (I think based on your description), I think a yarrow would work well. Look up “turf-type” yarrow. You’d need quite a few plants, but it’s low maintenance, low water, and holds up to dogs well.
Only thing I’m not sure about is this looks quite shady. Maybe too shady for the yarrow if the photo is indicative of its sunlight throughout the day. It needs part shade.
The best native plant society is here! [Calscape.org](http://Calscape.org) is an amazing site for finding the best plants possible for your location. Here’s the list of plants local to Lake Arrowhead although you must be lower down the mountain as Lake Arrowhead is 8A
[https://calscape.org/search?plant=&orderBy=&location_name=Lake%20Arrowhead%2C%20CA%2C%20USA&lat=34.2483396&lng=-117.1892078&page=1&perPage=60&height_from=&height_to=&width_from=&width_to=](https://calscape.org/search?plant=&orderBy=&location_name=Lake%20Arrowhead%2C%20CA%2C%20USA&lat=34.2483396&lng=-117.1892078&page=1&perPage=60&height_from=&height_to=&width_from=&width_to=)
You might look through [https://waterwisegardenplanner.org](https://waterwisegardenplanner.org) to see if there are any recommended ground covering plants and here’s Theodore Payne’s article about gardening with dogs. [https://theodorepayne.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/GARDENING-WITH-DOGS.pdf](https://theodorepayne.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/GARDENING-WITH-DOGS.pdf)
r/Ceanothus is an active subreddit, might post there.
That said most likely leaving leaves on the ground and adding mulch is the cheapest way to keep mud out of the house. Your insurance company may have something to say about that and putting down road base might be more acceptable. Decomposed granite is more attractive but grain size means a lot will come inside the house on the paws.
Nothing can withstand heavy dog traffic. My little twerps easily trampled a desire path through healthy well watered grass. It’s not just expensive water. You can lose the lawn if you are a law biding citizen and comply with watering restrictions. The current restrictions are too low for me to keep a lawn green, cannot imagine trying to start a lawn now.
To make the yard look nicer you can add shrubs and large bunch grasses to it, the dogs will play chase and keep away around them once they are grown in. My little twerps don’t wrestle so flimsy 1′ tall chicken wire cages around baby plants worked fine.