A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs The Frugal Gardening Forum cottage garden to replace nightmare backyard lawn?

Maybe a question for Tina? but welcome advice from everyone. I was looking in old posts here to see if I could find some solutions to our backyard problems. I noticed a post from Tina suggesting replacing a lawn with a cottage garden. I've been thinking of this for a while but would have to do on a budget of little or no money.

The problem is this: We have a large back yard. It is about 75% "lawn" and remaining is many roses, grapevines and a few other unidentified plants. The lawn has been poorly cared for by us for the 10 years we've lived here and is basically a green carpet of weeds. The major problem is foxtails which pose a great health hazard to our dogs.

So my priority is removal of the foxtails but there are too many to just hand pull. I don't especially feel the need to have a lawn, but do need some space for the dogs to lounge and to potty. I am also majorly opposed to just Roundup-ing the whole deal.

Tina, do you have pictures posted here of your garden or would you be able to post some and tell more about it? Anyone else willing to share their back yard photos or ideas especially on a very limited budget? Thanks in advance

I have never had a lawn here to replace except a tiny square.
I hate foxtails and the cost of having them removed from my dog's nose.
I am not sure how to really get rid of your current 'lawn' and leave running room for your pooches. Bare dirt is not an option without some kind of weed control.
A cottage garden really is masses of flowering plants ,kind of, instead of a lawn. That is not conducive to running pets or kids.
I truly understand living on a budget and wanting to improve your space at the same time. I began gardening and collecting plants by walking. I saw someone working in their yard and complemented them on their endeavors. I would ask for a cutting of their geranium or something. Or tell them that someday I want to have cannas as tall as theirs. They did what I do now, share freely.
What would you like to see in your backyard space? Divided between plantings and dog yard? Do the dogs have fence buddies next door where they run a rut along the fence playing games? Do you want to keep that space for them? Or do you want to surround the center of your yard with plantings?
A lawn is a lot of work and expense to keep up. A cottage garden still needs watering but does not suck up as much as grass does.
A lot of mulch is good for open spaces if you can get it free. The tree trimmers that clear the growth around power and phone lines here will dump it at my place for free when they are working in my area. It saves them a trip further afield and I get crudely shredded stuff. I have put that in prior years on the dirt roads that surround my house to keep the dust down (and weeds too).

Thank you for the reply and the great suggestions. I guess I'm attracted to the free spirit of a cottage garden. I started looking at photos on the internet and do envision clumps of flowers, greenery and small hills with some paths. Maybe a small patch of grass in a semi-shaded area we have where the grass seems to grow well. I think lots of color, but it will have to be able to withstand some disturbances (dogs/kids). We do already have a nice stepping stone path but it's covered by the darn grass. We also have great roses that have unfortunately suffered a lack of nurturing. I'm really trying to focus my energies on having something beautiful and peaceful back there.

I do need to keep the dogs (we have 4) away from the back fence. Our neighbor has 4 dogs and we've had some issues. We've already blocked access with some lovely chicken wire, but incorporating some more natural looking barrier would be ideal. The dogs are much older now, so I feel like they are ok with less yard now. Ideally, they could still roam the majority of the garden without my supervision, and the child, too. They aren't left outside, but enjoy hanging out outside.

Low maintenance and low water usage is always a good idea. And here in Sacramento, it has to be drought tolerant, or at least heat tolerant.

I'll have to give some more thought to the weed issue for sure.