Inspired by the variety of designer doghouses she saw at a benefit, show host Kitty Bartholomew decided to create a special doghouse for her own pooch, Spot. She opted for an Irish cottage look, to celebrate her Irish heritage. It features a sod roof made with Irish moss and stucco walls with dabs of stone and straw pressed into the plaster.
Sod Roof Doghouse
Steps:
- Cover the top of a flat-roof doghouse with heavy gauge plastic. In this case, Bartholomew used a good quality, plastic drop cloth she bought at a paint store, and cut to size.
- Use a heavy-duty staple gun to attach the plastic to the roof, stapling well down on the side edges, so moisture can't get through the top.
- Buy chicken wire by the foot at a nursery, long enough to cover the roof with a little extra to bend over the edges (you may need two strips to cover the width). The chicken wire will help hold the dirt on the roof, so the moss can grow over time into a dense sod.
- Lay the chicken wire flat on top of the plastic, and lightly bend the extra length over the edges of the roof (figure A).
- Staple the chicken wire down, but just here and there so it won't come off---but it won't be tightly bound to the roof, either. You need enough give in the wire to tuck spaghum moss underneath it.
- Tuck spaghum moss around and beneath the chicken wire (figure B).
- Scatter handfuls of potting soil over the top of the moss (figure C). Press down on the soil to secure it, and continue to scatter and press more soil until you have a layer one to one-and-a-half inches thick.
- Spritz the soil with water.
- Prepare to install the moss, which will act as sod. Many types will work, but Bartholomew chose Irish moss, purchased at a nursery, and followed this procedure:
- Flip the flat of moss over, dirt side up, and remove the tray.
- Water the dirt side, loosening up the roots by rubbing your hands over the surface as you water (figure D).
- Pick up the moss, still dirt side up, and carry it to the doghouse roof.
- Flip over into place (figure E). Repeat with other moss flats, butting each new one up to the other pieces.
- Keep patting down the moss over the course of a couple of days, to make sure it stays put.
Doghouse Stucco Walls
Steps:
- Wrap the same type of chicken wire around the house.
- Use a trowel to apply a layer of plaster over the chicken wire (figure F).
- Give the stucco layer an hour to dry, and then apply a second layer.
- To give the walls more of a cottage-look texture, rip straw into little pieces and press on to the walls while the top layer of plaster is still wet. Then, trowel over them lightly. Also consider pressing a few rocks and stones into the wet plaster, pushing a bit of plaster over their edges to keep them in place. Or take a branch that will lie flat and press it into the wall.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)