i want to keep my spring bulbs!

[Julie Marie]

hi folks, my problem is not a huge problem but if you can think of anything to help please let me know!

i have just spent all of saturday doing my garden and planting my daffs etc for the spring. benny loves to dig and has already started to dig at the bulbs. am not so worried about losing the bulbs but i know that some of them are poisonous.

my life is soooo mad that i cannot always be in the garden with him.

any ideas guys? would like to see an abundance of daffs n snow drops this spring!!

julie                      

[Mary]

With me, I've found cockers and nice gardens do not mix  Luckily Lottie is not a great digger....OK, so there are a couple of holes in the lawn but she loves nothing more than trampling all over the borders, under shrubs and eating plant labels

She brings half the mud from the garden into the house on her paws and leaves/twigs etc. on her coat :-

The only way to deal with it is to section off part of your garden if possible or watch her at all times  Not easy I know:

Failing this, I'm afraid you'll just have to make sure all your poisonous plants are removed :-                    

[Luvlylady]

awww no little b***** he probably knew you spent hours doing it
have no clue what you can do i must be a lucky to have a cocker that only digs on the sofa and bed                    

[PennyB]

I've found that the only way is to raise everything I cherish above ground. Large plant pots have been propped up on breeze blocks, etc. and am working out how to build some raised beds for next year.                    

[Pammy]

I agree with Mary. While you have a youngster, don't plant poisonous ones, not only will he try and eat the bulbs now, but he'll eat the plants next year too . Raising them is unlikely to make any difference unless you can get them well out of his reach. If you can fence off your garden then try that.

I suffer the same as Mary and had no daff's in my back garden for two years. Now they're a bit older, they leave them alone.

Patience and acceptance of the inevitable are the best things to see you through with a young dog otherwise it can become very very frustrating. Good job they are so lovable eh?                    

[LindaW]

Maybe you could plant the bulbs in the front garden or if you haven't got one then a tub placed by the front door                    

[Julie Marie]

thanks for the advice. i love daffodils, its a sign that winter is over, especially when they start coming up in that depressing February! He has access to both front and back gardens, he has already munched on my winter pansies. He knows to keep well away from my daisies though. He must have sussed out how sacred the flower is to me!!!                      

[PennyB]

he has already munched on my winter pansies.  

I've planted my pansies in hanging baskets as now its Autumn they keep quite wet anyway, and of course my dogs can't reach them.                    

[Sophie]

We have two 12 week pups and Sophie to contend with and have found that if you want to keep it, then we have to keep the little darlings out.  A pen or fenced run seems to do the trick when we are not with them.

Seriously though, there are many poisonous bulbs and plants and the only sure way to prevent an accident is to ensure you dont plant any.  Most good gardening books have a section on this.

Good luck                    

[Sue H]

When Bramble was a baby, he dug absolutely everything up - my stone trough of treasured alpines; chewed the roses off at ground level- God I was going insane!!  Eventually, I emptied the trough of alpines and put them in pots (what was left of them) pruned the roses as best I could (and actually they were brilliant this year) and have planned all my other precious plants so that they are in pots and no longer quite as vulnerable!  He chewed my lilies and then laid on them so they grew along the ground like some mutant form of triffid!  I am fortunate in having a reasonably decent sized garden, and not being too obsessive, so I leave corners that the dogs can wend their way through without causing harm (and they love their little territorial tunnels) - don't bother with annuals until they are at least 2, and be prepared for them to bite the heads off anything that overhangs their normal walk around!  Plan your garden for what it must actually do - be a picture of loveliness for you and be a good sniffing/rummaging/rooting area for your dog!  A sandpit occasionally 'planted' with treats can also provide a good diversion for 'diggy-doggies'