Month: November 2015

Categories
Greyhounds

Got Ya Plus 13 Months

I’m late. I meant to write this in October but got distracted by contractors.

Missy, Nick and I have been together for 13 months and she’s been an absolute joy. She’s finally felling pretty settled in as indicated by a drop in nervous play, chewing, and funky emissions. She’s still an active goofball but she’s happy to have a yard in which to romp, loves to hang out on warm evenings, and takes great joy in trolling school kids, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.

Bedtime Dog

At sunset a neighbor would walk her terrier mixed breed. This stumpy little guy was white with black spots and walked the street head out and determined. Because he showed up every evening just past sunset, we took to calling him bedtime dog. Missy would stay in the yard until she’d chased bedtime dog at the fence. Take her in before bedtime dog was chased and she’d pester you to go back out. I think they had a thing going.

Improved Confidence

After a summer of contractors, day care at Judy’s, and random trips, Missy is much more confident with strangers and has taken the lead on our walks. Missy is still reserved with visitors but she’ll usually stand with me while visiting rather than hiding behind. She’s doing much better when out shopping but a trip to Home Depot is still a bit much stimulation for her.

She and Nick Get On

Don’t even think of giving preferential treatment. She figured out that Nick was getting fish oil on his ration and she wasn’t. They both became fussy eaters because Missy wanted fish oil and Nick had to check both dishes to find the one with fish oil. This fall, I found both standing at Nick’s ration grumbling. So now they both get oil. Other than that, they get on pretty well. Occasionally, Nick tries to pull rank for preferred seating but she’s not buying it. Rhea would let him have where ever. Missy tells him off. And when Missy calls out in the garden, Nick comes running to join the chase. He definitely looks after her.

Categories
Grass Hardscape

Instant Yard, Just add money!

New sod, bed, and hardscape

Now that the addition and kitchen are finished, it was time to tackle the side yard. Construction left the grade a mess, clay subsoil to deal with, and a general muddy mess. Local landscaping company Gardens by Oz built a paver walk under the carport canopy, added a paver pad for the wheelie bins, a small raised bed, and fixed the grade and sodded the area chewed up by the construction.

Preparation

A three man crew did the predatory work, laid the new hardscape, and mulched the back bed in about 4 hours. The first thing they did was to break up the clay by roto-tilling. They raked out the clay using the excess to fill some low spots. Next they tilled in top soil and composted cow manure.

New Bed and Hardscape

They dug out footprints for the hardscape and edged bed, laid pavers and reused some legacy pavers scattered randomly about the place by the beloved former owner. They planted dwarf gardenia, rosemary, and variegated liriope in the bed.

Grass

After 2 days of rain, a crew of four returned to lay the sod. This took about an hour. I have to water every other day or so. The sod is a mix of fescues that grows well in the North Carolina low country. It was important to sod the area because the greyhound traffic is high here and Missy is fond of digging nests. She doesn’t dig turf. The sod has been down for a week. It should be well established by Thanksgiving.

How Much Water?

My landscaper suggested a good way to put down the proper amount of water. Set out a pie tin in the sprinkler pattern. Water until the pie tin is full. That’s about an inch. Once the sod is established, a 1 inch watering each week is good. While the sod is taking, an inch every other day is good. The idea is to promote sod root growth into the topsoil below. Once that is achieved (about 2-3 weeks), the sod needs its weekly inch.