MARK CULLEN: Dog Days in the Garden
By Lucas on Sep 06, 2013
As your kids head off to school, you might be thinking that your house is all too quiet and organized. Perhaps this is the perfect time for you to get a dog.
If you are fortunate enough to have a yard where your pet can run and skip and chase squirrels, I have some advice for you. Before you bring your pup home, consider how you can design your yard and garden to best suit your beast and your lifestyle.
Here are some ideas for a ‘pet friendly’ garden:
Dirt = mud. If you already have a pet, chances are that you know where they like to travel in the yard. A beaten down path through the lawn and garden is your cue to put down a hard surface like patio slabs or interlocking brick. Dirt, after all, becomes mud - especially in the fall when the rains come and do not dry up quite as fast as they did in the summer. Make your paths at least a meter wide.
Cool it. Every pet needs a shady place to cool down. Plant trees or large growing shrubs on the south and west sides of your yard to provide shade during the hottest parts of the day. Avoid planting shrub roses, barberry, or other plants that have sharp thorns in them.
The ‘unmentionable’. The need for pets to relieve themselves. Dogs are famous for burning the grass where they squat to urinate. The dead grass is not the result of acidity in the urine. It is the concentration of urea (nitrogen) that causes the lawn to die in patches. The solution is to dilute the urea by hosing down your lawn when you see the culprit do their business. When brown patches occur, have a bucket of sand/grass seed mix standing by that is pre-moistened, just like the golf courses do. You will be surprised at how quickly the seed germinates.
Cats are attracted to areas of dry soil. You can discourage them from using your garden as a latrine by keeping the soil under your soffit and fascia moist. Orange peels are known to discourage cats [and they smell a lot better too]. Scented plants like lemon geraniums, basil, and verbena can discourage them also. Garlic and lavender are also said to do the job.
Do not, under any circumstances, use moth balls to deter cats from your garden. They generally do not work and they are poisonous to humans. A curious youngster can easily pop one in their mouth with very unhappy consequences.
Choose plants wisely. Many plants are poisonous to animals. A short list of commonly used plants that can cause harm include castor beans, foxglove, calla lilies, rhubarb [leaves], tomato [leaves], daylilies, and coleus. If you wish to confirm that the plants in your garden are ‘pet friendly’ you can view an extensive list of toxic and non-toxic plants on the ASPCA website.
Doggie Don’t Dig. Many dogs are diggers by nature. Not much that you can do to change that if you happen to have one. But you can discourage them from ripping up your beets and potatoes pre maturely by placing chicken wire over areas in the garden that your dog likes to frequent.
Water. The basic element of life, after fresh air, is essential. To make it easy on yourself, be sure to locate the area dedicated to your dog near a faucet where you can easily pour some fresh water into a large container before you head out to work.
Exercise. Every dog needs to run and play. If you have a yard large enough to accommodate a dog ‘run’, then I would encourage you do put one in.
With some foresight and imagination, you, your pet, and your garden can live together quite nicely.
Mark Cullen appears on Canada AM every Wednesday morning at 8:40. He is spokesperson for Home Hardware Lawn and Garden. Sign up for his free monthly newsletter at www.markcullen.com.
