Take dog on runs outside garden. That and wood chips, because dogs be doin dog things.
darkbyrd
Get rid of the dogs
NotHugeButAboveAvg
Take the dogs else where, you should walk your dogs for ur health and theirs.
Wood chips.
Jeffe-69
Cedar play chips…
Terrascape_Supply
That’s a bit of a hard ask with dogs. To fix it, start by digging out the mud and loosening the compacted soil. Then, add landscape fabric to prevent the mud from mixing back with the soil, and top it with 2–3 inches of crushed gravel or decomposed granite to improve drainage. But that won’t work super well if this area is used as a garden.
Infinite-Fun4492
Get rid of the dogs!
BetterCallDeDe
Absolutely do not use wood chips if your dogs are running on it. Wood chips splinter like a sob, especially when wet. The sharp edges also cause micro cuts, again with the moisture (mold) you’re looking at infections. Also, store bought is chemically treated. Dogs eat it, get GI blockage, mold exposure and diarrhea.
We built a smaller fence 3 feet away from fence and added sod. Once the sod set we planned to remove the mini fence but ended up keeping it as is.
According-Taro4835
You can never stop a dog from running its patrol route so stop trying to grow grass there. You need to dig out the top few inches of that slop and create a dedicated track. Put down a heavy geotextile fabric and top it with decomposed granite or crushed stone that packs down tight. Do not use round river rock because it rolls under their paws and gets kicked into the yard. Absolutely do not just dump wood chips on top of the mud because you will just end up with a thicker soup. You need a hard packed path that actually drains and handles heavy traffic.
Once you establish that perimeter track you need to separate it from the remaining lawn so it looks intentional instead of like a destroyed yard. Edge it with steel or heavy stone in a nice sweeping curve. Inside that curve you should plant a solid mass of tough native ornamental grasses or dense shrubs. You want structure here to soften the fence line and physically guide the dogs along their path rather than a bunch of scattered isolated plants. I see folks mock up these exact muddy yard scenarios to test different layouts before buying materials and the ones who plan a dedicated crushed stone perimeter with a heavy planted border always fix the problem for good.
Hungry-Arrival3289
Mulch
NoPoopOnFace
Train muddy dog
katdwaka3
Moss?
Thoughtfvlly
I’d lean into it instead of trying to contain it—meaning that you could landscape it to look like it’s there on purpose. It’s the doggy version of a desire path.
I’ve heard from a doggy daycare that wood chips aren’t ideal because they can hide fleas. The one local to me used pea gravel for their play area. That will roll if it isn’t contained though, so you either need edging around it, or you could use some kind of crushed gravel like decomposed granite for a really hard-packing material.
Alone_Development737
Mulch
jacabri
Pavers
Legitimate_South9157
Add sand
tumulus_innit
An emergency fix is sand. Grass will still grow through it when spring arrives
Mindless_Capital8659
Install crusher fine walk
crevasse2
If it were me I’d probably try to encourage/force them to use a path by putting something like 4-6″ river rock (or mulch I suppose with a hard border next to path) along the house over some really good landscape barrier or cardboard. Then the pathway could be something like crusher run because it’s cheap, packs well and mostly stays in place. Crown it and make sure it’s at least a few inches above the grass layer. Make it a bit s curved for aesthetics but still let the dogs make a straight run. I’d probably continue on the other side of the path with something that encouraged them to use the path like more rocks, shrubs, whatever might keep them in line. But they might just jump it because it’s fun. It’s probably gonna be a process of trial and error.
DoItRightOnce1st
On the cheap…put some landscaping timbers and then some landscaping fabric followed by round stones, medium size.
ExampleEffective7088
Feed store wood chips. Cedar is the more expensive. The cheap (pine, I think?) ones last just as long. These are shavings not the chicken nugget type bark bits.
dlcarpenter908
Aerate and then top dress with perlite, then sand, and then spread wood chips over the highest traffic areas in the beginning of your wet season, adding a clover mix into any grass you spread will make the lawn hardier and can help with nitrogen sucked up by the wood chips decomposing.
LawInternational8557
Put some wood chips down!
olusapalady
I’m probably bad or lazy but I “planted” rugged turf grass in the prior mud dog tracks and although not a perfect grass blend (now a hybrid turf/Augustine/dandelion), it has worked great for me.
idye24
Euthanasia
pj2d2
I used to buy the big bales of hay, and spread them out over paths when my dogs were more active
netherfountain
I would take my dogs for a walk everyday instead of leaving them bored alone in the backyard for hours.
BefuddledFloridian
Maybe run the dog and it won’t want to pace the fence.
27 Comments
Take dog on runs outside garden. That and wood chips, because dogs be doin dog things.
Get rid of the dogs
Take the dogs else where, you should walk your dogs for ur health and theirs.
Wood chips.
Cedar play chips…
That’s a bit of a hard ask with dogs. To fix it, start by digging out the mud and loosening the compacted soil. Then, add landscape fabric to prevent the mud from mixing back with the soil, and top it with 2–3 inches of crushed gravel or decomposed granite to improve drainage. But that won’t work super well if this area is used as a garden.
Get rid of the dogs!
Absolutely do not use wood chips if your dogs are running on it. Wood chips splinter like a sob, especially when wet. The sharp edges also cause micro cuts, again with the moisture (mold) you’re looking at infections. Also, store bought is chemically treated. Dogs eat it, get GI blockage, mold exposure and diarrhea.
We built a smaller fence 3 feet away from fence and added sod. Once the sod set we planned to remove the mini fence but ended up keeping it as is.
You can never stop a dog from running its patrol route so stop trying to grow grass there. You need to dig out the top few inches of that slop and create a dedicated track. Put down a heavy geotextile fabric and top it with decomposed granite or crushed stone that packs down tight. Do not use round river rock because it rolls under their paws and gets kicked into the yard. Absolutely do not just dump wood chips on top of the mud because you will just end up with a thicker soup. You need a hard packed path that actually drains and handles heavy traffic.
Once you establish that perimeter track you need to separate it from the remaining lawn so it looks intentional instead of like a destroyed yard. Edge it with steel or heavy stone in a nice sweeping curve. Inside that curve you should plant a solid mass of tough native ornamental grasses or dense shrubs. You want structure here to soften the fence line and physically guide the dogs along their path rather than a bunch of scattered isolated plants. I see folks mock up these exact muddy yard scenarios to test different layouts before buying materials and the ones who plan a dedicated crushed stone perimeter with a heavy planted border always fix the problem for good.
Mulch
Train muddy dog
Moss?
I’d lean into it instead of trying to contain it—meaning that you could landscape it to look like it’s there on purpose. It’s the doggy version of a desire path.
I’ve heard from a doggy daycare that wood chips aren’t ideal because they can hide fleas. The one local to me used pea gravel for their play area. That will roll if it isn’t contained though, so you either need edging around it, or you could use some kind of crushed gravel like decomposed granite for a really hard-packing material.
Mulch
Pavers
Add sand
An emergency fix is sand. Grass will still grow through it when spring arrives
Install crusher fine walk
If it were me I’d probably try to encourage/force them to use a path by putting something like 4-6″ river rock (or mulch I suppose with a hard border next to path) along the house over some really good landscape barrier or cardboard. Then the pathway could be something like crusher run because it’s cheap, packs well and mostly stays in place. Crown it and make sure it’s at least a few inches above the grass layer. Make it a bit s curved for aesthetics but still let the dogs make a straight run. I’d probably continue on the other side of the path with something that encouraged them to use the path like more rocks, shrubs, whatever might keep them in line. But they might just jump it because it’s fun. It’s probably gonna be a process of trial and error.
On the cheap…put some landscaping timbers and then some landscaping fabric followed by round stones, medium size.
Feed store wood chips. Cedar is the more expensive. The cheap (pine, I think?) ones last just as long. These are shavings not the chicken nugget type bark bits.
Aerate and then top dress with perlite, then sand, and then spread wood chips over the highest traffic areas in the beginning of your wet season, adding a clover mix into any grass you spread will make the lawn hardier and can help with nitrogen sucked up by the wood chips decomposing.
Put some wood chips down!
I’m probably bad or lazy but I “planted” rugged turf grass in the prior mud dog tracks and although not a perfect grass blend (now a hybrid turf/Augustine/dandelion), it has worked great for me.
Euthanasia
I used to buy the big bales of hay, and spread them out over paths when my dogs were more active
I would take my dogs for a walk everyday instead of leaving them bored alone in the backyard for hours.
Maybe run the dog and it won’t want to pace the fence.