Lawn Care Tips for Pet Owners: How to Create a Safe Outdoor Space
Your dog is not just a pet, they are a crucial part of your family. Dogs bring such joy and fun to our lives, so it is natural to consider them when planning your lawn care services.
We are pet owners too, so we know how important it is to keep your dog safe when they venture into your backyard.
While you want your lawn to look great, you are not willing to sacrifice the safety of your pet. And you shouldn’t have to!
Let’s explore some essential tips to keep your pet safe while also having a beautiful yard for your entire family to enjoy.
Dealing with Urine Spots and Digging
Before we dive into how to care for your lawn while keeping your pet safe, let’s discuss two factors that impact turf health when you have a dog.
Urine Stains on Your Grass
As every pet owner knows, dog urine can damage your lawn by leaving yellow or brown spots of dead grass. While this can be frustrating and leave your lawn looking messy, we recommend not rushing out to your local hardware store to purchase any sprays or preventative treatments. These treatments honestly do not work well in preventing or repairing damage to your lawn and end up being a waste of money.
The best defense for preventing urine stains on your lawn is regular watering. Water helps to rinse away the excess urine and prevent damage. Eventually, turf will regrow in this damaged area, however, you may want results more quickly. Try raking aside the dry grass, adding a little topsoil, and overseeding with a sprinkle of new grass seed. Water diligently for the next few weeks, and you should see new growth after just 2-3 weeks.
Ripped Up Grass or Holes from Digging
Many dogs love to scratch at your grass after going to the bathroom. Others love to dig into your beautiful turf creating deep, muddy holes! While it is possible to train your dog out of digging, it still means you need to repair the damage that was made before training.
To repair areas damaged by digging, fill the hole with topsoil until it is level with the existing grass, overseed with grass seed, water regularly, and try your best to keep your dog away from the area you are trying to repair.
Safe Lawn Care
1. Work toward a Healthy Lawn
The first and most important consideration for a healthy and thriving lawn is to practice great lawn care maintenance. A thick and healthy lawn is the best defense against weeds and disease, AND it allows for you to have to use less fertilization and weed-killing products to keep your lawn lush. Utilize these lawn care practices to help nurture a healthy turf you can enjoy:
- Regular Lawn Mowing- During growing season, your lawn should be mowed weekly. Long grass welcomes in disease and pests. Ticks and fleas are more likely to hide in long, unmaintained grass as well. Consistent lawn mowing is so important, we wrote an entire blog about it! If you struggle to mow your lawn regularly, a robotic lawn mower could be a great solution.
- Regular Lawn Watering- Your lawn needs water to survive during the summer months, however, too much water can cause disease. Including an application of Hydretain at the beginning of the growing season can help your grass manage the amount of water it needs all season long. Hydretain is extremely safe for pets, and they can go outside immediately after application.
- Fall Aeration and Overseeding- If the general health of your grass is declining, aeration and overseeding can help revive your lawn. Aeration allows nutrients, air, and water to reach the roots of your grass. Both aeration and overseeding are completely harmless to your pet and the environment as well!
2. Use Fertilization Responsibly
To ensure safety for your pet, investigate the options your lawn care company offers. Some companies may offer both traditional fertilization plans and organic fertilization plans. Here are the recommendations for keeping your pet safe after fertilization.
- Traditional Fertilization- Traditional fertilization is the most effective tool for both weed control and generally healthy turf. It can be applied in a liquid application or a granular application. To keep your pet safe after a liquid fertilizer application, wait 2-3 hours or until your lawn is dry to let your dog outside. To keep your dog safe after a traditional granular fertilizer application, water your grass once before your pet goes outside. This helps the granular pieces to fall into the soil a bit more and away from your pets’ paws and mouths.
- Organic Fertilization- Organic fertilization is a great option to boost your lawn’s health and keep your pets safe. However, you need to be willing to tolerate more weeds and pests if your lawn is not already in excellent condition. Organic products simply cannot control weeds and pest problems like grubs as effectively as traditional fertilization. However, your pet can go outside immediately after an application.
- DIY Fertilization vs. Professional Fertilization– Understanding the chemical makeup of fertilization, how often to fertilize, how much product to put down on your turf, and what type of fertilization is needed at what time of year can be challenging to figure out. In addition, professional-grade products are much more effective than ones found at a commercial store, making them more effective and requiring less frequent applications with less product needing to be used each time. If you have a pet, it is safest to leave fertilization to the professionals. Lawn care professionals are required to have a certification to apply any type of chemical to your grass. They take continuing education classes each year to stay up to date on the safest practices for you and your family and must pass an extensive test to earn certification.
Selecting a Lawn Care Company that Takes Your Pet into Consideration
Having healthy grass where you can play with your pet and enjoy your backyard space is important. Investing time in caring for the health of your lawn first and foremost is the best tool to keep your grass looking great and keep your pets healthy and safe.
At Green Team, we love our pets too. That’s why we offer organic fertilization, Hydretain applications, and organic mosquito, flea, and tick treatments. You and your pets deserve options when caring for your outdoor space.
Interested in learning more about how Green Team can help you care for your outdoor area? Start by filling out our contact form. Our experts are ready to huddle up and find a solution that works for you.
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