Hi Lemmy, My HOA sent out a email saying dogs are no longer allowed on any grass in common areas or front yards including grass between sidewalk and curb which is… everywhere except our own tiny backyards. The reasoning is some dog urine effected dead spots. Honestly I didn’t even notice them, it’s 95° here and all the grass looks sad.
It’s a walking town and we are not a gated community, non-residents walk their dogs here all the time, so this rule can only punish those who live here and has no ability to effect others.
Anyway, this seems like a ‘we have tried nothing and we are all out of ideas!’ moment so I wanted to see if anyone here had any suggestions I can pass on to maintain a “good” curb appeal ground cover-wise while allowing dogs to do normal dog stuff.
I can converse with the HOA board in good faith, but this rule is basically banning dogs from the neighborhood - which I super did not sign up for.
Pertainent info: PA, USA - Town Home style homes - small central common grass - owned for 8y.
Edit: it seems like people may have glossed over the question part and skipped straight to HOA bashing (which is warranted at times!) so I will rephrase:
What ground covering or neighborhood solutions to similar (perceived) issues have other communities employed?
Why is it parks that have dogs slashing all over them all the time still grow fine? What naff turf are these people using on their lawns that dies off due to a bit of wee?
In California, Arizona, and the like, dog pee will kill off grass at the park, too. Lots of places have grass that should have desert climate flora, and dog pee does damage there.
My inlaws have a herd of Chihuahuas and they’ve actually managed to kill big patches of lawn along with about half the shrubs bordering their yard with all the piss. I think this rule is stupid and HOAs are dog shit but this stuff can damage plants.