The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Can anyone help me with pictures of your dog yards with pea gravel. I just had the area measured and first thing I was asked was what size gravel

What do I want under it..I thought cheap fine driveway stone tapped in .....dunno

yard fabric under that?

I'm lost..Please help!

The last time I did a pea gravel yard I put chicken wire under it and it worked really well. My dogs like to 'kick' after they 'go' and eventually the dug deep holes before I laid it down. The chicken wire stopped that. I went six inches deep with the pea gravel. Didn't put anything under the gravel. As far as size, I go with the pea size. I'm pretty sure that's why they call it pea gravel, but different yards can have different names. Also make sure you get the rounded type, not the chipped type, it can be hard on the dogs feet.

Our yard has two parts, one part is for the dogs to go potty. Last year we framed around the fence and added pea gravel. We put landscaping liner underneath. We also used the small size "river rock" so the rocks would be rounded. Its so much easier to scoop poop. It takes a few minutes a day. We did about 4 inches depth but I think we need to add more.

Thanks Julie, he said there is three sizes of pea gravel .. pea size must be the smallest I would guess. I would worry about dogs cutting their feet on chicken wire if they were to kick deep enough to touch it...again..don't know.

Thanks Erika! So Julie's 6" would be about right then.

I did it in my last yard. I designated a 10' square area that was already dieing off and was separated from the where I'd be mowing by a sidewalk. Just some landscape fabric right over the grass (the grass dies off pretty quickly so no need to do a lot of prep) with plastic edging holding it (and use 9" spikes to hold the edging in by hammering it right through the bottom part of the edging into the dirt) and then a lot of the smaller river rock (which is all nice round little stones maybe an inch or so big as they don't hurt paws). I made the mistake of thinking 2" would be enough rock but did have to add at least that much again to get a good cover and would have even liked more, so I think your idea for 6" is probably about right. The edging was necessary to keep the stones contained (well the majority of them as some will sneak out).

It was great. The dog liked it and it drained well and was easy to hose down and clean.

Jean

Thank you Jean!

I LOVE the pea gravel idea, but Leila is a rock-hound, and brings rocks into the house, chewing on them, so it won't work for us!!
Sure wish it would, cuz it sounds like the perfect solution for a doggy area!

Susan do the pavers move around at all? I would like to add some to our yard but I am concerned they might shift around.

No, the paver's do not move around. They stay in place. We have those on the side of the house that goes to the gait. On the other side of the house where the dogs go potty the most, we have river rock and sand stone's to walk on. The sand stones are nice, but have to be cushioned or they will crack.

I have some round pavers that I used in the grass to walk on but they're disappearing in the mud. I'm saving them to put back after the stone is placed. I also have pavers under the fence which will keep the stone in place after the area is dug down. Hoping I can decorated this area with potted plants, larget rocks, etc...to look more like a garden area than a dog run lol. It's off my side porch which is perfect for letting the dogs outside from my kitchen door.

If you use pea gravel on the base layer, tamp it down, then lay pavers on top, you'll have a surface that is easy to clean, won't allow them to dig or kick and will allow urine and water to drain away. That is what we did before we laid the cement in the outdoor kennel that we use now. A quick pick up, hosing it off and an enzyme cleaner occasionally are all it needs and the gravel stays put. To keep the pavers from shifting, you tamp the gravel down, lay the pavers with about half an inch between them and then use a broom to sweep more pea gravel in between the pavers. As it settles, it holds everything in place while still allowing urine and water to drain away.

Hopefully your's won't do what our's do with the gravel though... We have the cement in the kennel and gravel outside now and they like to reach through the fence and pull gravel in, where they pick it up and bring it into the house - leaving it around on the floor to be stepped on if I don't catch them chewing on it, making me chase them down to drop it.

It just occurred to me that you originally questioned whether you need landscape fabric or not so I'll mention the reason you do need it (according to a landscape guy who helped me put some in at one house). The fabric keeps the rocks from sinking into the soil. Without it, over the space of a couple of years you can lose a lot (if not all) your rock to the top soil. Those rocks will sink with every rain, snow, or just walking.

In my last house I saw how this works as somewhere along the line a previous home owner must have put pea gravel on one of the flower beds and when I went to dig them for new plants, I discovered the rocks in the first 6" or so of top soil. I had no idea they were there as there were none left on top. With the patch I did on the lawn area that year (with fabric) those stones stayed for the 3 years I lived there and the only reason I wished I had put a thicker layer of them was that the ground settled a bit after the grass died which left some lower spots.

So unless you want to be redoing it every few years or you have some bedrock close to the surface, use some landscape fabric to keep things separated.

Jean

Thanks again Jean..I will be sure they use the fabric.