Sunny's Sod

One of my garden projects this spring was to put in a small spot of sod for Sunny the poodle.  I'm hoping this will deter her from going potty in the herb bed.  So I sacrificed a section of the fenced-in kitchen garden (last year's pole bean section) for her to have some actual grass.  Not wanting the grass to grow into any of the surrounding beds, I chose fescue sod (My front lawn is bermuda grass, something that I deeply despise.).

The first thing I did was to dig off all the weeds and grass that were already present.  I turned the soil, removing rocks and roots (This was the hard part; it took me a couple of weeks of steady digging and resting to get this completed.).  Then I brought in 1.5 cubic yards of organic planting soil (OPS) and raked it smooth.

Here the organic planting soil has been spread on top of the area to be sodded.

Laying the sod was probably the easiest part, although by far the messiest.  I had streaks of mud all over my body, on my face, in my hair.  I've already laid 72 pieces of sod over the last three days; I still need a few pieces to even out the edges and to cut to fit around the walkway.  But the bulk of the work is now complete, and Sunny is already enjoying her new play area/loo.

I left a 2-foot wide border along the fence for flowers.  The dwarf crepe myrtle was the only thing that I didn't move from this area.  

I removed the walkway to the second gate so Sunny would have more green space.

Sunny seems to approve.  

The arbor was added to lead into what remains of the kitchen garden.  I've planted cucumbers and transplanted a muscadine vine from my woods to grow over it.  I'll finish the sod up to the arbor and even out the side next to the flower border.  

Since it's right off the patio, it should be easy to keep the grass watered.  I'm hoping it will have time to get established before the weather gets too hot.

It may be a small area, but it was a huge project for me, and I'm glad it's over.  Now I'll only need to convince the poodle that this is the approved loo, and not the herb bed, and certainly not the squash bed.

Wishing you happiness in spades,

M.R.S.