Lexie's Former Favorite Spot
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While conventional wisdom in Chicago suggests that there are only two seasons in our calendar year, winter and construction, anyone who gardens or takes care of a front lawn and or parkway space knows that there is another season: The Growing Season.
I thought about this today as I watched a sleepy man, still in his pajamas stop in front of a house that wasn’t his and let his dog meander and do his business on the front lawn and garden. I have admired this garden for years and I always try to pass by a few times a year just to check it out.
I don’t know the owners, but through the gardener’s grapevine, I‘ve been told that they designed, planted and meticulously maintain this garden and front lawn themselves. It’s beautiful.
Obviously, this man was too sleepy or too oblivious to care that his dog was creating a mess on someone’s carefully maintained property and I wondered why he thought that was ok. I used to have a daily morning war of words with a man who allowed his dog to urinate daily on my boxwood shrubs ( whose scent naturally attracts dogs) when I had a front yard garden too. He refused to listen to reason so every morning the sprinkler was turned on just before he arrived. He found another yard soon enough.
By now, the dog owners who are reading are probably getting upset. Perhaps you are thinking that I harbor some pet peeve against dogs or maybe I’m a crabby old man and just hate all animals in general. Hhmm, not so fast neighbors because there happen to be 16 legs walking around in our house, not including the millipede I saw yesterday. Our collection includes 2 humans, 2 cats and a dog. Although I do get crabby more than I should, I’m anything but an animal hater.
So, I think I can straddle this issue fairly between dog owners and gardeners because I think there IS an issue. I’m not the only gardener / property owner this happens to and the man I saw today is not the same one who used to let his dog kill my boxwood.
Plain and simple: I think it’s rude. It’s un neighborly and …..well, I’ll just leave it there.
Urine Damage
Lexi's Former Favorite Spot
Most dog owners are surprised to learn that dog urine is not harmless.
“Oh, he’s just peeing. What’s the big deal? “
Well, it is a big deal. Dog urine, especially female dog urine, is deadly and in fact it kills many plants and totally wreaks havoc on grass. I personally switch out grass for plants whenever I can but some people absolutely love grass. And I have to admit that when grass is well cared for, there is nothing like it. It makes me want to golf and I don’t golf. Well, I did once.
My neighbors down the street recently planted sod on their front lawn and parkway and it looks great. Unfortunately, this was one of Lexie’s favorite spots to do her business and as soon as the stakes and orange caution tape came down she of course headed straight for it.
“Lexie girl, let’s go find another spot”
On my block, there are still a few parkways that people haven’t spent a lot of time and money improving and ours is one of them so far. Our building has had bigger issues to deal with like the $8000.00 we’ve had to spend “fixing” our perfectly good porch to comply with the cities’ new building code. But that is a story for another day.
Parkway planting is becoming increasingly popular and as more and more of these spaces that we don’t really own get planted with sod, gardens and gated, there will be fewer and fewer “neighborly” spots for our dogs to go. Look, I know this isn’t the biggest issue facing our community but it is one of those daily “quality of life” things that tend to make both property and dog owners mad.
We all want our neighborhood to look great and I appreciate my neighbors who take the time to beautify their property and the parkway too. But as you can see from the pictures, urine is deadly and it is a pain in the butt and the wallet to repair.
So, what’s the solution?
Gary Fuschi
Some Lawn Repair Advice.... .
.
While conventional wisdom in Chicago suggests that there are only two seasons in our calendar year, winter and construction, anyone who gardens or takes care of a front lawn and or parkway space knows that there is another season: The Growing Season.
I thought about this today as I watched a sleepy man, still in his pajamas stop in front of a house that wasn’t his and let his dog meander and do his business on the front lawn and garden. I have admired this garden for years and I always try to pass by a few times a year just to check it out.
I don’t know the owners, but through the gardener’s grapevine, I‘ve been told that they designed, planted and meticulously maintain this garden and front lawn themselves. It’s beautiful.
Obviously, this man was too sleepy or too oblivious to care that his dog was creating a mess on someone’s carefully maintained property and I wondered why he thought that was ok. I used to have a daily morning war of words with a man who allowed his dog to urinate daily on my boxwood shrubs ( whose scent naturally attracts dogs) when I had a front yard garden too. He refused to listen to reason so every morning the sprinkler was turned on just before he arrived. He found another yard soon enough.
By now, the dog owners who are reading are probably getting upset. Perhaps you are thinking that I harbor some pet peeve against dogs or maybe I’m a crabby old man and just hate all animals in general. Hhmm, not so fast neighbors because there happen to be 16 legs walking around in our house, not including the millipede I saw yesterday. Our collection includes 2 humans, 2 cats and a dog. Although I do get crabby more than I should, I’m anything but an animal hater.
So, I think I can straddle this issue fairly between dog owners and gardeners because I think there IS an issue. I’m not the only gardener / property owner this happens to and the man I saw today is not the same one who used to let his dog kill my boxwood.
Plain and simple: I think it’s rude. It’s un neighborly and …..well, I’ll just leave it there.
Urine Damage
Lexi's Former Favorite Spot
Most dog owners are surprised to learn that dog urine is not harmless.
“Oh, he’s just peeing. What’s the big deal? “
Well, it is a big deal. Dog urine, especially female dog urine, is deadly and in fact it kills many plants and totally wreaks havoc on grass. I personally switch out grass for plants whenever I can but some people absolutely love grass. And I have to admit that when grass is well cared for, there is nothing like it. It makes me want to golf and I don’t golf. Well, I did once.
My neighbors down the street recently planted sod on their front lawn and parkway and it looks great. Unfortunately, this was one of Lexie’s favorite spots to do her business and as soon as the stakes and orange caution tape came down she of course headed straight for it.
“Lexie girl, let’s go find another spot”
On my block, there are still a few parkways that people haven’t spent a lot of time and money improving and ours is one of them so far. Our building has had bigger issues to deal with like the $8000.00 we’ve had to spend “fixing” our perfectly good porch to comply with the cities’ new building code. But that is a story for another day.
Parkway planting is becoming increasingly popular and as more and more of these spaces that we don’t really own get planted with sod, gardens and gated, there will be fewer and fewer “neighborly” spots for our dogs to go. Look, I know this isn’t the biggest issue facing our community but it is one of those daily “quality of life” things that tend to make both property and dog owners mad.
We all want our neighborhood to look great and I appreciate my neighbors who take the time to beautify their property and the parkway too. But as you can see from the pictures, urine is deadly and it is a pain in the butt and the wallet to repair.
So, what’s the solution?
Gary Fuschi
Some Lawn Repair Advice.... .
.
posted by gf at 5:57 AM
2 Comments:
Weird. This new format makes my comment appear as though it doesn't exist.
tom-
can you explain because i see your comment here and the one on the @Home Page too.
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