Keep lounging dogs out of beds

Bend wire hangers to make double arches that can be scattered throughout the garden as obstacles to pets.  Photo/Illustration: Christine Erikson

I seem to spend lots of time trying to keep my two dogs from lying on the soft soil and mulch in my perennial beds. This process usually involves a lot of yelling and shooing. This year, I was determined to keep them out a little more peacefully. First, I took all of the coat hangers I had accumulated over the years from the dry cleaners and removed the cardboard tubes from the bottoms. Then I straightened out the hooks and bent the sides around to make double hoops. I scattered these hoops throughout the bed, pushing them into the soil. The dull metal finish of the hangers blends in well with the soil in the early spring, and they are obscured by foliage later in the season. My dogs cannot find a large enough spot among the hoops to take their afternoon naps in the sun.