There a couple different things to consider. The largest issue you are having that would help with improving everything overall is drainage. It's hard to tell the grades and slopes in your yard, but a local company should be able to help you determine if there is a relatively easy fix like installing drainage using perf tile to drain the water away from where it's pooling to a good drainage area, or if you have been unlucky enough to have your yard be the low spot in the surrounding neighborhood in which case fixing your water/drainage issues becomes trickier.

If your dog is running back and forth along the fence and it's hard on the grass, sod will only temporarily "fix" the issue. It'll get worn down just like the existing grass. You could give up on the grass right along the fence or you could try doing a flower bed with mulch and shrubs, though placing the plants will be tricky to keep the plants alive with a dog running around them all the time. And mulch will look nice and can be easily top-ed off and cleaned out as the dog runs around kicking it around a bit.

The idea of a firepit is really nice, and you're right it probably shouldn't be to close to the tree. But if your kids don't run around and use the grassy area to much you could move it more towards the center of your yard and it'd still be a nice place for them to roast marshmallows and hang out with friends as they get to be teens and spend less time running around in the yard.

Overall; it'd contact a local company regarding the standing water and drainage issues, see what they can come up, and based on that you can work other solutions to help improve the yard which might be some reseeding, or hardscape options like a patio or flagstone pathways, etc if grass isn't going to grow.

@Capital Landscaping. Thanks for the recommendations. We are actually one of the highest houses in this spot of the neighborhood. Our neighbors behind us are the unfortunate ones that are low, so I'm sure they would appreciate us taking a look at drainage issues.

I'll check out some hardscape designs on Houzz as I hadn't really thought of that.

Much appreciated.

I don’t know that it’s going to help with THAT much water, but around here a very cheap way to deal with soil that doesn’t soak in water is to apply baby shampoo. This conditions the soil a bit to allow water to drain in better. Worth a try since it only costs a few dollars. You just add about 4oz I believe of any baby shampoo to a hose end sprayer and spray down a 1k sqft area. If your soil is really bad you can do it again a week or so later.

Ash trees are subject to emerald ash borer. It’s only a matter of time before your tree is infected. It’s very widespread in the Midwest. You might have more flexibility in planning if you remove the tree.

I would definitely move the standing water away from the house. Quick fix is a long black big extension pipe that you can get at any big box store. That's short term until you get the rest figured out.

I think working with the situation is a good idea. Keep the grass where it is sunny and then mulch/garden the rest. I'm seeing loads is ferns and other interesting lush plantings. Of course, mulch needs to be renewed yearly and the odd weed will need to be pulled. Plan on more weeding the first year as stubborn lawn weeds ret to fight the mulch.

Limbing up your trees and tree removal will make a big impact, but can be very expensive especially near your home as they have to be very careful. If you go the removal route, do so before you install a garden as my experience has been a great deal of trampling and damage.

@tootsie. We have two ash trees back there actually and are aware of the emerald borer. We have been treating the trees to keep them as long as we can (they are the only trees in the back and we love them). But you bring up a good point.

I don’t think we will get rid of them before they are infected but the type of work we eventually want to do back there would likely be better planned without them there as you are right eventually they will get infected. Good thought.

@posierosie_zone7a

Good thoughts. I didn’t think of using ferns. I don’t know much about them or maintenance. I think we will have to have a drainage person come out to help us figure some rain issues out.

There are all types of ferns and you can create a good deal of effects with playing large ones against smaller, etc. Hosta can make a big impact if you don't have deer.

Here's an AMAZING thread for beautiful plants in the shade garden with great visuals. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2040898/companion-accent-plantings-for-the-hosta-garden-pic-heavy?n=152

I'm sorry if that thread starts you on an addiction to hostas and shade plants. Well, not really. :D. Maybe jealous as the deer are plentiful here.

Where the dog patrols, you need to have mulch which you can replace as needed. There really isn't any plant that will withstand a dog running back and forth across it. Figure out where your dog goes to approach the fence and how wide a space s/he uses in playing along it. Then plan any gardens to allow those spaces to remain in mulch only and plant in front of them.

As far as the water, how long does it remain in the yard? Does this happen all season, or only in spring before the plants are growing and using water more. Are you getting any water in the cellar or other areas of the buildings? If you haven't been here for at least a full season, watch and see how this changes over the course of the year. It may not need any solution as long as you are willing to mostly stay off the lawn after heavy spring rain.

There are groundcovers that will grow under ash trees better than grass which really likes full sun. Posie_rosie's linked thread will give you a bunch of ideas to start with for groundcovers for shade.

Have you considered a rain garden?

For your dog fence issue, you could consider a border of pavers or larger smooth stone along the fence line, or an Invisible Fence. In my experience with the Invisible Fence, the dog will "think" about where they are relative to the fence and not run the fence line. It has the added advantage of allowing you to fence the dog out of places like planting beds and trash cans.

@ NHBabs You raise a good point. We have issues with mostly spring rains (been here 5 years). It gets better by the patio but we still have a very wet area in yard that I think would benefit from having a gutter/water specialist look at. Specifically we have an area near our sump pump that is particularly bad and has caused some sump pump over flow in the basement.

I haven’t bought or ground cover. We are going to hold onto these Ash trees as long as we can then once we have to get rid of them we will hire a landscape designer to help us redo the yard and plant new trees so ground cover would be good for awhile. I grow hostas near the deck where it gets shade all the time too.

I think we can figure out the dog area as our neighbor put up extra fence board to block the dogs from seeing each other which worked but she stopped as you can see from the photo. We are friends so I think we will just finish it for her.

Great ideas. Thanks!

@ sandk do you have examples of a rain garden? I’ve never heard of one.

@posierosie_zone7a For hosts/fern shade beds would you just plant around the tree and put mulch in or would you build up a border? I like this idea and when we lose the Ash trees I will have the back garden to transplant too if needed.

Rain gardens: https://www.gardendesign.com/eco-friendly/rain-gardens.html

I would put a deep V edge cut in with a spade or a buried edging to keep the groundcover and grass separate, but I wouldn't build up the soil surface which could hurt the trees or use an above ground border which can be a hassle to mow and trim around. A masonry edging such as patio block or brick sunk to ground level can create a mowing strip that the mower wheels can run on to reduce having to trim.

Sorry, I left a great deal out regarding technically creating the garden. NHBabs is absolutely correct especially close to the trunk. The tree needs to breathe and so do the roots. I'm not sure how far to go out, but I would step back a bit from the trunk and then start the garden there. The good news is smaller (cheaper!) plants are better as they require less digging and can establish themselves easier.