Petscaping

The whimsical cottage surrounded by an English-style garden looks like it came right out of a decorating magazine or a Merchant Ivory film. But this $9,000 landscaping project isn't the maid's quarters, a garden shed, or even a playhouse. It's a doghouse. And it's called "petscaping."

"Petscaping is landscape design with pets in mind," says Scott Cohen, a garden artisan who lives in California. Cohen's designs are featured on HGTV's Get Out, Way Out! series, and he specializes in extreme landscape designs - including that $9,000 doghouse. "We like to incorporate petscaping into all our projects that involve families with pets," Cohen says. "And while we've created designs for people with turtles and rabbits, most of the time, petscaping is for the dogs."

But you don't have to hire a landscape designer to incorporate petscaping into your own backyard. You can do it yourself. Whether you're planting a garden, building a pond, or installing a footpath, fountain, or fence, you can design around and for your dog. Here's how.


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