Question
Hello.  I have 2 large dogs in a townhouse with a small (14x20 approx) fenced yard.  It's December now and it's a MUD BOG.  I have NO grass.   

In the spring we would like to TRY to have grass but I have NO CLUE if I need to sod or seed or put down topsoil. And WHAT kind is hardy enough to tolerate (after it's grown) two large dogs playing zoomies in the small yard?

I live in Maryland and we have CLAY.  The yard gets good afternoon sun except for one corner that has  pine tree branches from my neighbor's yard covering it.

Answer
Hi Nessa,

Sorry, bad news here. Big dogs playing "zoomies" in a small yard is a recipe for disaster.

Often times we get questions that are kind of like the following scenario:

"Dear Dr. Smith, I'd like to go sit in the middle of the desert for a month with no food or water. The temperatures hit 135 degrees during the day. I'll only be wearing a swimsuit. What sort of vitamin pill should I take before I go so that I'll still feel fine at the end of the month?"

The fictional Dr. Smith certainly wouldn't have any advice other than "Don't do that. You'll die. There's no way to survive that."

Your yard has no way to survive that abuse, and trying to make a yard happen is like trying to take a vitamin to help you survive conditions that you simply can't survive. It would be futile.

I'd recommend laying down some landscape fabric and burying it with about 5 inches of bark mulch. That would look a lot better than mud, and the dogs can't kill what's already dead.

Sorry Nessa. Good luck though. I'm a dog lover too, so I really sympathize.

-C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com