Three Ways To Make Your Backyard More Dog Friendly
A common challenge for dog owners is maintaining an attractive yard that is still a comfortable place for their pup to play and relax. The good news is that you don't have to choose between your dog or your yard. There are strategies you can implement that will allow both the humans and the canines in the household to enjoy the backyard landscaping.
#1: Take advantage of a relief area
A major concern in the beauty of your lawn is dead spots in the grass due to dog urine. The cause of these spots is excess nitrogen in dog urine, which kills the grass and creates a ring of deeper green grass around the kill zone. You can't stop your dog from urinating, but you can train them where to go. A small mulched area that is designed to drain quickly and be rinsed down by the sprinklers each day can be the perfect place for a pup relief station. There are even cute lawn ornaments available that are made to look like hydrants, which can help encourage your pup to use the spot. Just avoid using cocoa mulch in the area, since it can be toxic to dogs.
#2: Create dog-friendly boundaries
Ornamental plants and flowers are a wonderful option for adding dog-resistant greenery to your landscaping. Low shrubs can be used to fence in flower beds, since dogs usually won't walk through these. You can use taller-growing shrubs or vines to cover fences, so dogs aren't tempted to dig beneath them. Just avoid any shrubs and vines that can be toxic to dogs, such as hops, oleander, or azaleas. Plants make better boundaries than other low borders because dogs naturally tend to avoid them. A dog may try to cross a metal border, for example, which can hurt their paws. Paver and brick borders also do little to exclude a dog, as they will often simply use it as a step.
#3: Design for comfort
Dogs like comfort. If you don't provide it, they may dig holes, create sleeping troughs, or otherwise damage the lawn. You can provide for comfort by considering your dog's wants and needs. Provide a cool place to sleep and plenty of water, and you will generally have a comfortable dog that does little damage to the landscape. For example, a small backyard water feature that is dog friendly for drinking or even splashing in is both attractive and useful. A nice dog house doesn't detract from the yard and can prevent a dog from digging dirt troughs to lie in.
Contact a landscape company, or landscape designers specifically, for more pooch-friendly lawn strategies.
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