Monday, June 4, 2012


Dogs and Lawns - oh my!





Do you love your dog, but when you look at your lawn you could get really mad at him or her?

Consider the kind of maintenance your lawn gets. The soil beneath a highly fertilized lawn already contains large concentrations of nitrogen - and a little more, courtesy of a dog doing his duty, is enough to push the grass over the edge.

  • Turn on the hose and flood the spot if the deed has just been done. Yet, even within a few days, a thorough flushing should head off any damage, and before long the grass will grow back as good as new.
  • In cases where the damage has been in place for a while, dig out the damaged turf and flush the soil with plenty of water to dilute the excess nitrogen.
  • Reseed or re-sod the spot.

Female-dog urine is not more potent than that of males. It causes more trouble simply because females tend to urinate all at once in one spot. Urine damage has nothing to do with acid, so canine dietary supplements that alter the urine's pH have no effect on the "burn" spots.

BEST REMEDY IS TO WALK THE DOG FREQUENTLY, STARTING IN THE EARLY MORNING, NOT GIVING HIM OR HER A CHANCE TO URINATE ON THE LAWN.