Expanding Chloe's Territory

Expanding Chloe's Territory

8.13.2016

Chloe helps layout the weed barrier fabric during our backyard project.

As the summer of 2016 begins to wind down so does our ambitious backyard landscaping project begin to end. Here in the high desert water is a precious commodity and determining ways to conserve it can go a long way in reducing one's home ownership costs, especially when it's time to pay that water bill.

You may have remembered How Much Rock Can A Cocker Spaniel Move? where I wrote about Chloe's assistance in our 2013 landscape work when we xeriscaped the front yard, removing the water intensive lawn and replacing it with drought tolerant native plants. 

This year's project however has had a larger impact on Chloe's outdoor space, since she has full roam of the backyard, that is except for a very large patch of low lying junipers that were fenced off for her protection. Without the barrier, Chloe found the junipers as an excellent stalking ground for lizards and birds that might be hiding in the thick underbrush. Although such an activity fits the cocker spaniel instincts of flushing out prey, catching the thorny juniper foliage in her long flowing ears was my major concern and up went the fence. 

Four years later with the fence now looking ragged, and the nearly 30 year old juniper plants dying, it became apparent that it was time to remove the whole lot and expand Chloe's backyard territory to the property line. So over the course of two months of weekends, the junipers were removed and replaced with new xeriscaping effectively doubling Chloe's roaming space. Already, it's become her new favorite hunting grounds as she intensively patrols for any unlucky lizards that maybe sitting within her grasp.

With the junipers and fence now gone behind her, Chloe looks over her new expanded territory.