Well your doggy looks innocent enough, LOL!

Doesn't she? I really can't complain- she's rough on the grassy paths, but she never steps foot into the beds. And she doesn't chase the chickens, either.
Renee

Ah, she's so sweet.

AWWW I love Sam. Is that a little nite lite for her...how sweet. She's like, if I lay here still no one will notice me.

aw... but sam likes you and i think that's worth any number of grassy paths. i bet she's a real sweetie. min

Renee .... have you thought about St. Augustine grass? It is used on footfall fields, so is pretty tough. Can be a chore to keep under control.

Re: keeping your darling Sam off of areas being reseeded or under new growth ... I've had excellent luck by laying pieces of plastic netting down flat over the surface. Grass grows through, but Kell-girl[boxer] and Joe-boy[rat terrier] don't like the feel under their feet and avoid the re-seeded patches.

BTW ... thanks for the pictures of your garden that you often post.

Ahem. Borderbarb, that is- or should I say was- St. Augustine in the second photo. It may stand up to football cleats, but it's no match for me and Sam. I'll try the netting; the iron grates work pretty well that way too, but the bricks have been a dismal failure. I even tried planting violets there. No one can kill violets, right?
I see photos in the Cottage Garden and Rose Forums of paths of lovely long bladed grasses- ryes, bluegrasses, fescues, and I DREAM ON. If it's not stoloniferous, it won't live here. In my next life, I'll live in a place where it rains.
I'm planning on learning how to use my new camera this week...
Renee

The word drainage comes to mind. The ground looks rock hard. I would dig it all up and add a lot of organics, then replant from seed. It's too much work,but when I have done it in the past, I get results. When the ground is hard the drainage is bad and the soil is dead (ie not living) the grass dies.

We are fortunate, tropical thought, to live in a valley bottom with soil like butter. The soil becomes compacted on the paths, and the grass won't grow, because we walk on them. The grass would do just fine if we kept out of the garden, and if Sam would stop chasing squirrels!
Renee