You are doing a great job all around, KUDOS to you !!!!

Your bent up Brother Stefan looks better than mine and I've had it for four years. Your new dogs are handsome, glad they're trainable.

I remember the shopping spree and the thread! So looking forward to seeing update photos of all those new babies!!!

My doggie experience doesn't extend beyond having inherited a chihuahua which sadly has been gone for years now, but I am curious if Walter and Ava know not to lift the leg against the cages and find a tree instead? They look "angelic" and well-mannered in that photo! Lovely of you to have given them a home. They will no doubt thrive under your care and tutelage, lucky dogs....not to mention the freedom of all that s p a c e !

Your Brother Stefan looks so great! Isn't it normal for that hosta to look like that until all the unfurling is completed? Mine is only just now starting to look more "tame", lol.

Your gardens and land are so lovely. Maybe the loveable new four-legged additions to your family will assist you with hosta picture-taking ... aka photo-bomb ;-).

Difficult to deprive yourself for very long of something/someone you absolutely love, isn't it? :-)

The misshaped hostas and the sweet doggies will straighten themselves out in due time!

You have a lovely start! We had success keeping our 4 smaller dogs out of the beds, a fairly easy job for us. In the winter when the leaves are gone they all wander in the beds. They seem to know when the foliage starts to rise in the spring its time to stay out.

Sherry

Sorry about the loss of your dogs but glad that you did adopt two more. I've lost 3 large dogs over 2 1/2 years--it's so hard to see them go. However I now have a rescued large dog who we adore. Your gardens will be fine. You are lucky in that you can let the dogs out--my German Shepherds, mastiff and Great Pyrenees have to be on leash since I have a small suburban yard. The current dog, the Great Pyr would be long gone if we let her out. None of mine ever showed any interest in the gardens and wouldn't sit next to me while I weeded, etc. they didn't want to be out on a very long lead--50 feet, even though they had mats, ice toys, water, etc. I have much more damage from herds of deer that run through my yard.

I'm impressed with all the trouble you went to in order to cage those hosta babes. Your yard already looks like a nice place to be. Those lucky dogs have a lot of lawn area to play on, but I can picture how they'd get each other going and happily run over everything.

With the care you show for the plants and dogs, I know you'll end up with beautiful gardens and two great garden companions, .....who will only go crazy in the plants every now and then. :-)

Don't think of them as mis-shapen, think of them as unruly. Hostas look a little better when they are twisted, unruly, puckered, and corrugated IMHO.

Im having the same problem! Three rambunctious pit bulls. I have found if i let them out one at a time tbey behave. Together they throw running fits right through my beds.

" I have found if i let them out one at a time tbey behave. Together they throw running fits right through my beds."

How do they get enough exercise?

We do four miles on leash every morning then lots of romping and play time throughout the day. Sometimes hub even does another four with them at night- I find that the old saying of "A tired dog is a good dog" is very true so we try to exhaust them every day. Lots of indoor games too. If I let them out one at a time they'd just lay down and snooze. I need them running. More to the point- I am outside all day and I got them as companions. Leaving one in isn't gonna work here.

I'm sorry for the loss of your dogs last year. It's so hard to lose them but I hope Walter and Ava are providing you with entertainment and love as well as the exercise of keeping them out of your garden :)

They are beautiful dogs and your garden is looking great!

Sweet doggies and color coordinated, too! Dog life spans are far too short.

My brother has a yard that can be a hosta heaven; he has just a very few but, with my persuasion, prepped the beds to really get going on hostas this year. His new (energetic!) dog thinks they planted a salad just for him and bites off the pips!

Your new hosta gardens look beautiful already!

Kay

Now if I could just get a handle on the chipmunks...

Aww... you have a big heart of gold.... Walter and Ava look like sweet companions. Your time and the idea to strike a balance of garden with pets by proper care/training of your dogs and the caging your hostas is perfect... everything looks great from this side of the screen. Good job! :)

"Your time and the idea to strike a balance of garden with pets by proper
care/training of your dogs and the caging your hostas is perfect"

Well, thank you.

We often joke that we bought the property for our dogs and then spend most of our time helicopter parenting their use of it. It's sad because it is true.

And we did move here for our dogs and bought a yard with just an OK/acceptable house attached. Bought sight unseen, too- the first time we saw our new home was when we pulled into the driveway when we moved here from Ft. Lauderdale.

Gardening was always a consideration when house shopping, but the existing six foot fencing sealed the deal.

As I mentioned above I am seeing WAY more chipmunk damage than dog damage. I have lived here since '07 and never saw the first chipmunk until our one year minus dogs. It seems they have moved in and I have been fighting them ever since. They've eaten four 'June' just this last week. I have been building wire cages fast and furiously but I'm playing catch up at best. Don't want to kill trap or transport.

Instead of gating the individual hosta can you maybe gate off the entry to the hosta bed, I did with my whippets and when im outside im always telling them no. Whippets are not dogs that listen well, but they are getting the msg now. Its been 2 months now and they are leaving them alone; now if I could train the bunnies and deer.....lol

"Instead of gating the individual hosta can you maybe gate off the entry to the hosta bed"

Thanks for the thought but the beds are not designed with only one "entry." They (all 5,000 sq ft of them) are all open directly to the lawn.

Both of them are responding extremely well to the training.

• One of the things I do to protect smaller Hostas is to get wire baskets from the dollar store. two purposes... To protect against bunnie and also to protect some that look like they are struggling to survive. I wait until they have the green or black ones in stock.

No waiting if you spray paint your baskets yourself. :-)

Spraying wire baskets without making a mess is a real pita