Find this dog. Make it your friend. Bury a few bones in your plant bed and borrow the pooch for an afternoon. Your hammock is the preferred supervisory location. For other ornamental plants, you can fuss and fret with annuals if you like.
Plant perennials instead.
Relax, already Once everything's in the ground, back off. Don't spend needless time on watering and feeding. People overwater massively and kill their plants. Water less frequently and more deeply instead. Drip irrigation is the best way to go, too.