Our neighbors, who recently moved in, let their dog out without a leash. He likes to come over to our yard and do his business. Their young children also come in our yard. We shoo them away and the parents call 'em back to their side of our low rope fence, but it still happens. We are thinking about what might be plannted to keep them out. A lot of shade in winter, less so in summer; salty soil, high winds. I'm thinking thorny plants might work. What else? Specific plant suggestions appreciated. All I've come up with so far are bougainvillea, perhaps too large. Coral bean - nah, poisonous.
The neighbor is a builder who owns the lot (as yet unsold) on the other side, so I'd like to stay on good terms.
keeping a dog (and kids) out of my yard
Had the problem with stray children before trampling my newly seeded grass; now, in our new home, I have the roaming dog problem. My neighbor way down the road has a collection of about 8-10 dogs that are 'free range' animals and my yard is one of their favorite places to relieve themselves (probably to show up my three dogs who are properly trapped in the back yard). Anyway, depends on how enclosed you want to be and whether you just want to keep them from crossing over into your yard or if you want complete privacy (I sometimes like to pretend that my neighbors don't really exist :)). A thorny shrub would probably get the message across, but may be painful to prune and maintain and is a pretty strong statement. You could try a nice hedge of arborvitae or holly (Ilex). I would suggest a larger ornamental grass as well, but you may have too much shade for that in your yard. Again depending on the amount of shade in your yard, you might consider photinia or indian hawthorne. I think some camellias can be grown nicely in partial shade and are evergreen. I live in 7b, so my suggestions may not work for you, but good luck in your search. Stacey
Thanks for your thoughts on this. Holly may well be worth considering. Meanwhile, I've added natal plum to my list. Maybe asparagus fern.
Our soil is very tough on plants; even the pampas grass planted a year ago has yet to grow much. It is simply hanging in there.
You would need some very tough plants that would take alkaline, salty soil, high wind and shade. The shade part may be a problem. Your shade is the exact opposite of what plants can handle — usually shade in summer and more sunlight in winter. Would it be possible to provide more sunlight? Kids are easier to keep out than the dog. Fencing would work best, but a good compromise would be a 3' - 4' fence with shrubs next to the fence. You would also have to plant mature specimens or use fast growers, but fast growers can also cause problems. Without a fence shrubs and or trees would have to be densely packed.
I found some links that may provide some possibilities:
http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=388
http://www.extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/HG_Landscaping_2008-02pr.pdf -
Not all the selections on this PDF file will grow in Texas.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/SouthernGarden/coastplants.html
http://mtfsa.com/tex.htm
I have Knockout roses as a hedge between my house and the neighbors. I lived in Holland a while, right on the north sea. You could walk out the back door and right onto the beach and they had rugosa roses planted as a hedge there. They took the salt spray, wind, sandy soil, etc. Rugosa roses are sometimes called "sentry roses" because they have lots of thorns. They are pretty trouble free and are very tough plants. Don't expect tea rose type blooms though, these are singles, but pretty just the same. They also have red hips in the winter. They will tolerate some shade, but you may sacrifice blooms. If you have sun in summer, that should be fine though.
Hope this idea helps.
Crow
That's a great idea! I know there are a few varieties that work well here, so I'll investigate further at the local nurseries.
decklife, you may have to mail order them. Most of the nurseries near me don't carry them. Fortunately, roses are one of the few plants that I've mail ordered that handle shipping without any problem. If you put them in, let us know how they do.
thanks again!
Decklife, The Antique rose emporium will have your roses that you are looking for. That may work for the children, but it won't likely stop the dog.
I hope you find a solution for the dog that works, so you can share it with me.
We live on a farm to market highway and have three dogs. Our dogs are trained not to go beyond a certain point so we don't have to worry about the highway.
Our neighbor across the highway has a dog that comes over all the time. Just one dog and they can't teach him to stay away from the highway. He has to mark every plant in my yard and that is just not good for my plants.
So, if you find out how to keep a dog away without a fence to keep him out let me know.
Charlene
What about a motion detecting sprinkler? Do you think that might work on the dog?
That's an interesting idea, and we'll check into it. As of now, the plan is to attach that metal grid stuff to the existing posts. It won't be much of a deterrent since it will be short, but it should help somewhat. Then later on we'll decide if we need plants in addition - unless a nursery offers up a suitable rose I can't resist, in which case I won't wait. A sprinkler would add a second or third layer of deterrence.
That sprinkler is a great idea for a small yard. I have two of them and they are great for keeping racoons out of the corn. I would have to have a hundred of them to keep the darned dog out. We have 54 acres.
Roses, Holly, Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape) or Barberry ..... anything thorny!! That's what I do
I'm not so nice. The folks across from us (we bought the place from the now deceased dad, who kept control of his home) are multigenerational, and have animals that are not neutered and rules for these apes don't apply. When one of their own was killed in a single car accident last year (I had a restraining order against him), the clan marked the hwy with a cross and a whiskey bottle at the base.
So when I'm gardening on the otherside of my barbed wire fence and one of their dogs attempt to cross the road, I scream like a mad woman for it (them) to GET BACK.
But to the point. The roses are a great idea and you can plant a couple of varieties to create a screen that is multilayered from the ground level up. Thorny berry bushes alongside and intertwined with the roses help us. The Rose Emporium web site and Chamblees Nursery's site will be helpful for you.
Oh, and our Doberman gets very unhappy when tresspassing occurs.
Oh I'm sorry that you have to deal with neighbors like that. They sound pretty scary. I would probably go for the barbed wire fence and a doberman too! We once had a doberman - really scary and protective when they want to be; but a real sweetheart for us. :)
Boy, decklife and antiquedrose, I've had similar problems in the past. And one of the same problems right now! I live on an FM road and the neighbor accross that road has about eight or nine dogs--free range as aadvark7 puts it. One is a Great Dane. The rest are all almost as large. We lease the grazing and haying rights for our pasture to a local fellow who lives up the road. The Great Dane has picked up a hobbie of chasing the calves in our pasture and in the pasture behind our property. Our "house yard" is fenced in and our corgi and rat terrier mix stay put. The neighbor who owns the Great Dane told the owner of the cattle that our corgi was the one doing the chasing. I won't mention what the cattle owner told me he said to the Great Dane lady, but he didn't believe her.
I have tried the motion activated sprinkler and can say that they do work.
Good luck to all.
this is such a sore spot with me so forgive my soap box..lol..I had problems with my neighbors pack of dogs and loose chickens destroying my hard work,not to mention setting my own dogs off when they came into my yard. I have 2 large dogs and they are kept fenced. I went as far as putting up a electric fence to keep my dogs from chewing their way out of a chain link fence to get to the chickens.. That was my breaking point.
I live with in a small city and he was grandfathered in to be allowed the livestock. I went to him first and politely asked that he keep his animals off my property. He chose to ignore me. So I called the city and ended up filing a formal complaint. They served the complaint and allowed him 10 days to confine his animals. After that it was a 500.00 per animal, per day fine. So his 12 chickens in my yard would have been a 6000.00 fine if I had caught them after the 10 days were up.. needless to say Ive never had loose dogs or chickens in my yard again. I would not hesitate to do this again.. ( I know I sound like a grumpy mean nasty old lady but really Im not! )
I dont feel you should HAVE to do anything to keep someone elses kids or animals off your property. For some one to let their animals and kids do that is showing a lack of respect for you and your ownership of your home. we work hard to keep our places nice. I understand wanting to stay on good terms with your neighbor I want to with my neighbor and thats why I asked him nicely first but sometimes people need to be re educated. If you live within a city call them and ask what your options are. Landscaping is expensive as we all know and Id hate to see all your hard work get torn up because they will not respect your property. If they dont now having the plants up will not make a difference.
good luck and I hope all works out for you
Kathleen
I also have empathy for your dog problem. The man that moved into the house on the east side of me put in a dog pen right up against the fence. They were bird dogs. They never left the pen. They howled all night, every time there was a siren. There is only about 20 feet between our houses, and he has a cinder block garage that goes from the back of his house on my side all the way to the alley. Those dogs are placed between the cinder block garage and the fence. You see, this way, he doesn't have to see or smell those dogs, but I do. And when they bark or howl, the sound bounces off that garage and carries up between our houses. I won't go into the long details and bore everybody with what has gone on. But I do have something that might help. My ex-husband said he was having the same kind of problem with his neighbors dogs. He said they dumped his trash and tore it up and no talking to the neighbors helped. He's even an investigator for the state of Oklahoma. You'd think they'd want to leave him alone. Anyway, he said one day he saw the dogs loose and wondering around his trash cans. So he said he went out and got the dogs to get within a close distance to him. He then sprayed the dogs with pepper spray! Of course it was painful for the dogs. But he said after they ran off he sprayed his trash cans with the pepper spray. Said he never had another problem.
I tread carefully ( double meaning there) because he will eventually build on the empty lot, and can cause a lot of problems during construction - things falling onto our beds, etc. Pepper spray, hmmmm.
You also might try powderd red pepper sprinkled on the ground. Dogs do everything by smell and pepper up the nose isn't fun.
Maybe an Ocotillo Fence? (Fouquieria splendens)
I've only seen pictures but looks very interesting because it makes a thorny living fence that blooms with red flowers when it gets some rain.
I've been trying to get my hands on ocotillo - not easy. And they grow reeeeeealy slow, like maybe an inch a year.
You might see about a organic animal deterrant to spread around the perimeter of your yard also. I know it isn't pleasant but keeping the piles picked up might also help not to encourage more. We have a leash law here so most are on leashes but that doesn't keep them from stopping near the street and letting their animal use our yard!
The automatic sprinkler might be a good way to go, for kids and dogs!!
I hate to put a damper on the suggestions, but I see lots of suggestions for use of plants that require a good amount of direct sunlight to grow and bloom well. Decklife, how many hours of sunlight does the area get throughout the year?
Here is a product that is fairly inexpensive.
http://www.havahart.com/store/animal-repellents/3143
That side of yard gets plenty of sun in spring and summer when the sun is higher in the sky. During this part of the year, there's sun from early morning till around 11 a.m. In the afternoon, there's sun starting maybe 4:30 to 5 and going till dark. I have sun-loving plants that I planted there before the neighbors' house went up, and they've done ok.
There are two beds along that side of the yard. One has a Sabal palm, sea grape, hardy hibiscus and native turk's cap, plus wedelia and my one remaining dwarf natal plum (the others' having been wiped out by Ike flooding). The other bed has the plumbago, gaura, duranta, purple fountain grass etc. In between the two is Floratam or Raleigh grass, and the S. reginae. Past that bed and closer to our house there's more grass.
Throughout the yard, I've chosen salt-hardy plants (and moved over wild plants from roadside and the builder's vacant lot on the other side of our yard) . I'd estimate grass makes up about 55 percent of the yard. We have a very low area we call our bog, which is not wet all the time but does sit right on the water table. It has just whatever wants to grow there. About 15 percent is hardscape - my husband's wood-sided bocce court, and a small patio next to it. I had hoped to be done planting (as if I would never again be tempted!!!), but the suggestions here are getting me thinking. (Uh-oh, says the spouse....)
I love all these suggestions!!
I don't know if either Swamp Lilies or Louisiana Iris are salt tolerant, but they sure would work well in your boggy area. Maybe someone on here will know. I've got a low place in my yard where a water main busted before we bought this house. The previous owners never filled the spot back in once the main was repaired. I was going to have it leveled and resodded, but I decided to put bog plants there. It's right in front of a vitex that is in a beautiful open vase type sculputral form. I'm sure the iris would work and I'm looking for the Crinums. More flowers is definitely better than the weeds that now occupying space!
You're yard sounds lovely. Would love pics!
Roses need six hours of sunlight to have good blooms. Even lesser bloom would still be a pretty plant. Not sure how much sun is needed for the green vigorous growth.
Best of luck.
My Knockouts are shaded part of the day and they still bloom really well. The neighbors put in some new trees that shade them some and I have a live oak, only about 6" diameter, that blocks some sun from them. They still thrive. Here is a pic of that bed. It has dianthus and daylilies in front of the roses. The oak is to the left in this photo, but doesn't show up in the pic.
And these are shade tolerant irs. Not as showy as the La., but they are directly under the oak and still bloom well.
An angel trumpet (brugmansia) might work there too. Mine benefits from a bit of shade and it definitely likes lots of water. Here's one of mine in bloom. I don't know if it'd be cold tolerant for you that far north. Mine is in ground and only gets the tips singed in a freeze. The fountain beside it is constantly loosing water from wind blowing, so the ground stays moist there. I've had several others, but this one has done the best because of the water. (okay, I'm a nut, I confused antiqueroses location with yours. The cold tolerance shouldn't be a problem for you.)
This message was edited Jan 7, 2009 3:49 PM
This message was edited Jan 7, 2009 3:50 PM
Yes I planted some small evergreens in January 2008, maybe only 2 1/2 feet high at the time - but perfect for the male dogs! I ended up having to cut off some limbs that were destroyed by the toxic ammonia they were subjected to daily! For a while I would wait for them all (the dog herd) to come up the road and head onto my property for their morning marking ceremony, then I would run out at them, screaming and waving my arms. I was pretty determined and I'm sure I looked like a crazy lady. We have a big front 'yard' so I never got to them before they saw me coming and ran away. Its not AS bad now. A few will still come around occasionally, but I don't see them just congregating in my yard and dousing it good anymore. I think they're afraid of me now. Little 5'1" me. I don't know what would have happened if they hadn't run away. I mean, me vs. a rottweiler, 3 lab mixes, german shephard/(?) mix, chihuahua, spaniel, 2 yellow retreiver/? mixes, etc. Good thing they ran away.
Anyway, dog pee is really bad for your shrubs, and if your neighbors dog is a male, putting shrubs there is like an open invitation to mark the line to his hearts content. Females aren't usually a concern. I hope your neighbor's dog is a female.
I know you said not poisonous plants, but it may be an angle you could use. If the people aren't really knowledgeable on plants, just lie and say the plant is poisonous. I know it's not nice, but it may work. You could tell the neighbor that you have several plants that are poisonus or sharp (ex. oleander for poison and century plants/agave have pokey ends) and just wanted to make sure they knew because you've actually seen the dog sniffing and maybe even licking the plant and you would just hate for their dog to get sick. Also, if the kids even brush up against the plant, they could easily break out in a rash and you would just hate to see that happen. Of course, you can't cut the plants down because your dead relative gave you these precious plants and you just can't part with them.
- - Not to be sexist, but if you tell the Dad = maybe no reaction.... tell the mom = she may get in a big tizzy and insist her kids and dogs stay home.
Just thought of another one - castor bean is an annual that grows like a weed and I think it's just the seedpods that are poisonous, but I could be wrong, could be the whole plant.
So, hopefully the 'caring' approach may work. Just remember to throw in it's from a dead beloved relative or he'll want you to cut them down!
This message was edited Jan 7, 2009 6:04 PM
All catalogues in which I have seen castor bean advertised state "all parts of this plant are poisonous". If you like them, plant them. Its your property. He can't tell you you can't plant them. It is the pet owners responsibility to make sure their pets stay in their own yard. If the pet dies because it chewed on a plant in YOUR yard is totally on them. I have the same situation here. And as far as the poisonous thing goes, if you take a look at the bigger picture there are a LOT of plants and shrubs which you find commonly in yards that are poisonous. Its just not common knowledge.
Hey AJNTEXAS just reminded me of a trick that worked for me with my dog, suggested by the kind folks on the pet forum a few months ago. I have a dog that will chew anything, serious oral fixation. Sticks and rocks are ok but waterhoses, insulation around pipes, poisonous plants, etc are not ok. So someone recommended spraying what I don't want chewed up with bitters (to create a damp surface) and then sprinkling red pepper. It works. Josee now knows which things are off limits and doesn't mess with them. I think you might want to leave out the damp surface though so that when pooch comes around sniffing the pepper dust will be able to get vacuumed into his nostrils. Just let him get a taste/sniff of that a few times and he won't like your yard anymore. You have to apply often for a while, but it didn't take long for us.
I had lots of photos but my hard drive failed and I haven't got around yet to bringing my backups onto the new hard drive.
I planted spider lilies in the bog and Texas star hibiscus but these plants get by the native plants: coastal cordgrass, saltgrass, sea ox-eye daisy, as well as sueda. The bigger spider leily is still hanging on, but the Texas star didn't make it, though it's still possible it'll come back from the roots. I also had 3 umbrella grass plants but they also haven't made it. I think they're not salt tolerant enough.
So I don't know whether I'll try planting more inside the bog. This yard has been tough to get going, and it's not yet what I'd call pretty, but I have hopes that this spring and summer will see things really take off. We did lose a lot of the sod we put down. That too should start spreading once warm weather comes.
I appreciate all the tips. I know there are plants in my yard that are poisonous, but can't recall which ones. I do think a warning would do some good. And I happen to have a castor bean plant that I collected at the transfer station. It's in a 1-gallon container on my deck.
I don't know if these things really work, but have considered trying one. If anyone has any experience with them I would love to hear about it.
http://www.backyardstyle.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-16108
We have several folks that walk their leashed dogs down our street and don't seem to have the slightest concern about letting them stroll into our yard to do their business. Cats running free also use our flower beds... nothing quite like working in the garden and coming up with cat doo on your hands. I have two young grand daughters that I am extremely protective of, and do not want potential disease carrying feces on them, so the front yard is pretty much off limits, but the cat surprises can show up anywhere. The older I get, the more bizarre I seem to get. One of these days I may just flip out and you will hear on the news about the crazy old man that has started using his neighbors yard for his toilet in retaliation for their cat using his yard. I can't understand how some folks can be so oblivious or uncaring about controlling their pets.
Be very cautious about use of Castor Beans. The seeds are very pretty and shiny and would be very attractive to a young child, who might just eat them. That would be bad!
Sorry about the castor bean suggestion, it was a bad one. Just a "brain fart"! I should have looked up more info on them first.
Zacattack, if you're in need of bail $ once you flip out.... I'll be the follow up on the news asking for donations for the "poop in my yard and I'll poop in yours" fund!