Garden Detective: Dog-friendly grasses
When selecting a grass that can hold up to a dog, consider your dog's breed as well as the yard's sun exposure. Credit: AP
If the lawn is shaded, however, then go with a combination of fine and tall fescues. Fine fescue thrives in shady areas but doesn't hold up well to foot (or dog) traffic. Coupling it with tall fescue, which can tolerate a good amount of traffic, will ensure all your bases are covered.
You don't say which breed of dogs you have, and that's important, too: I don't know of any grass that will hold up to, say, German shepherds or bull mastiffs running over it and kicking it up on a daily basis, but if you have a couple of beagles, then these recommendations should help.
But assuming they are, in fact, fungus gnats, the best way to eliminate them would be to remove the plant from its pot, rinse it completely from tip to roots (rinsing off all the soil as well) and wash and disinfect the pot with bleach. Rinse and replant using fresh, sterile potting mix. That should do it.
If you want to keep the area free of any vegetation, your best bet would be to lay down landscaping fabric, thick piles of newspaper or cardboard and cover it with mulch. The barrier will prevent weeds from receiving sunlight, and they'll eventually die. If any new weed seeds take root in the mulch atop the fabric, you'll be able to pluck them out with very little effort. If there are other plants growing among the undesirables, then you'll need to target each weed individually. Ideally, pulling them up by their roots would do the trick, but since you've written, I'm guessing you're past that. Use a spray bottle filled with white vinegar (preferably containing more than 5 percent acetic acid) to drench each weed individually. Take care not to allow the vinegar to come into contact with other plants, as it is "nonselective," which means it will kill all plants it touches, including grass. For this reason, don't apply on a windy day, and be sure to target the plant from close range. You might cover nearby plants with plastic before beginning.
If you can find vinegar with a high acetic acid content, the application might be a one-shot deal. If you use ordinary kitchen vinegar, however, you'll likely need to reapply a few times before attaining complete control. It's worth noting that after effectively killing all the weeds, others will take their places unless you plant some sort of ground cover. As the saying goes, "If you don't plant something in a patch of dirt, God will."
