Going to seed

Time to save some seeds - I've been collecting them from nasturtiums and sweet peas this week, to keep for sowing next year, and am about to collect the seed heads from the evening primroses so I can have a few where I want them., as well as the random ones that always spring up ...
There have been some not so good seeds around too: at times this year it has felt a bit like we've been playing Grass Seed Russian Roulette ... Archie has had them in his ear on several occasions before now, despite trying to keep him away from grassy verges. The last time was particularly horrid as it ended up on his eardrum and he ended up with it being ruptured and on ab's and a lot of pain for some time. And then on Friday he got not one, but two in an eye while out on a walk, after succeeding in juggling his tennis ball right into a grassy verge. I succeeded in floating one out - I always carry water with me - but the other one disappeared  into the corner of his eye and disappeared. We cut our walk short and went home, where he was dosed up with homeopathic Silica ... an hour later, just as I was thinking we might have to go the vet to ask them to flush it out, it made an appearance in the corner of his eye and this time I was able to successfully remove it. Nasty things, grass seeds, whether stuck in paws or anywhere else - they can also get up noses, and into eyes. If removing one, check carefully to make sure the pointy ends are still there. I was amazed at just how sharp this seed was two hours after getting into Archie's eye - it hadn't softened at all, as you might have imagined it would.
What has this got to do with dog friendly gardening? If you leave your lawn edges tufty, as I do, for your dogs to graze on, do trim back the tops when they start to seed - and avoid ornamental grasses unless you trim the decorative seed heads off ... no point in trying to avoid them on walks if they are infesting your garden!

The culprit ...