Pet safe garden/lawn
In the previous entry titled "People food for thought part XV; Herb and spices", I wrote that our stumpy Corgi "Palette" is on fresh food diet, a.k.a. raw
food diet, and since the diet switch from processed food diet, I started
paying more attention to overall health issues such as
over-vaccination, monthly flea/tick treatment etc and I also started
paying more attention to the use of toxic household cleaners, and wrote some pet safe household cleaner ideas.
If you live with furry furriends, household cleaners are not the only thing to think about.
Pet safe garden/lawn..
How do you care your lawn/yard/flower and vegetable garden? Do you use something to keep the bugs at bay? Do you recognize what plant,what kind of gardening materials are toxic to our furry furriends? That is another thing to think about.
Many of you would notice that, especially at early morning around spring time, our furry furriends seem to enjoy munching on salad bar in the yard.
They love to glaze grasses, and they love to roll on things in the yard and if you have been using some sort of pesticide to keep your lawn bug free, your furry furriends maybe ingesting the pesticide little by little. Is it okay for them? I personally prefer not to use such harsh chemicals in the yard and expose our furry furriends to those pesticide.
We do not use pesticide for our lawn and, if our stumpy little dog "Palette" wanted to roll on things or if she wanted to munch on her organic salad bar, we let her do that to her heart content since we know there is nothing harmful is used for our lawn, I can let her without worry.
I know that some people use food grade Diatomaceous Earth (not the kind to use for pool),which you can get at the garden center, to combat with flea/tick. The idea is that the DE (short for diatomaceous earth) can dehydrate those flea/tick and protect your pets from them.
Food grade DE is pet safe and,it is not toxic when/if they lick them. In fact, food grade DE can be used to worm dogs as well.
Some people use food grade DE in their yard as well, but I have heard that some people think that treating the yard with DE might actually dehydrate the good bugs such as earthworms and might not be good idea. I think it might be true.
Others treat yard with beneficial namatode to combat with garden bugs,flea etc..
I see that many people use mulch when gardening. Do you use mulch for your garden? If you do, what kinds of mulch do you use?
Some people might not notice, but there is a kind of mulch our furry furriends are toxic to. It is called "Cocoa Mulch".
What is cocoa mulch?
As you might be able to guess what it is made from, cocoa mulch is basically a cocoa bean shells.
According to nationalcocoashell website, shell of the cacao beans come off during the roasting process and, they are separated from the actual cocoa beans.Then,those shells are sold as mulch for gardeners.
Since cocoa shell used as mulch can retain moisture longer,smell better, and great insulator during harsh seasons for plants especially during winter, many gardeners use the cocoa shell as mulch.
However, as you know from our previous entry titled "Chocolate,Caffeine and Cacao", chocolate is toxic to our furry furriends because they contains the chemicals dogs cannot process in the body. It contains "methylxanthine alkaloids " in the form of theobromine and caffeinea.
Cocoa bean shells also contains the theorbromine,and caffeine and, if you live with furry furriends, you should consider what kinds of mulch you would be using for your garden and, how you protect them from such toxic materials in the garden.
Dogs have great sense of smell,and cocoa beans are quite aromatic and smell good items to your furry furriends and, very tempting for them not to munch on those.
As side note, if you grow tomatoes, plants,leaves, unripe green tomatoes are toxic to dogs and those are some other things to consider.
It is always good to research what plants are toxic, what plants are safe for your furry furriends when you do gardening.
Yard vs Digging problems..
When we talk about lawn, often times, I hear someone having trouble keeping their dogs from digging their precious flower garden.
If you think about it from their point of view,digging in the yard, making huge holes to sniff or bury is natural behavior of dogs. It just not something we human would be appreciated it if they dug in beautiful flower garden or vegetable garden.
To protect your flower/vegetable from being dug by your furry furriends, one thing you can do is to offer the place where they can dig to their heart content.
You can make digging space by putting sand in the wooden box,preferably in the shady place to protect them from hot sun during the summer. It is more fun if you got jackpot treats hidden in the sand box and let them go find it. Every time you find them digging the place they are allowed to dig,you can praise them and they would learn to dig the designated area,not your flower/vegetable garden.
Lawn vs Urine spots..
Another things pops out now and then on the talk of lawn is urine spot talk.
In the previous entry titled "Why we find vigorous grassy grass around dogs' pee area in our lawn", I wrote that dogs' pee contains "Nitrogen",and nitrogen is actually good for Lawn. However, nitrogen in the pee is so concentrated,and dogs repeatedly pee on the same spot,potty area's lawn gets burned.
I also wrote that Iowa state University turf grass expert "Nick" suggest that you spray the water right after dogs pee on the lawn to dilute the nitrogen in the dogs' pee. He suggests to let your dog pee on different spots rather than one particular spot.
I have come across a few products that are sold for urine spot treatment such as rock that you would put in the dog's water bowl and supposedly,it would change the dog's urine nitrogen level, and the other is tablet that ingredient list goes dried brewer's yeast,DL-Methionine,natural flavoring,magnesium stearate,yucca schidigera extract etc.
I think that we human tend to look for the quick solution whether it was for dog's weight loss or training issue or other issue like this. Personally, I prefer not to give anything to change things manually to solve our human problems.
If you have urine spot problems in your lawn, as Iowa state university turf grass expert "nick" suggests, water your lawn right away,and let your dogs do their potty on different spots.
Also, it is also good ideas to choose kind of grasses you plant for your lawn. One type of grass you can do is clover.
We recently sprinkled clover seed in our yard and, it has been a month or so,and our lawn is greener than before. Initially, we have implemented the idea to add clover to our lawn to reduce the frequency of mowing,but it sure makes our lawn much greener,and I like them.
According to landscaping.about.com website Clover has several points good for your lawn.
1. stays green all summer
2. free of weeds
3. does not require being fertilized due clover is nitrogen fixer
4. pest free
5. attract beneficial insects
6. soft footing
7. less frequency to be mowed
8. does not suffer from dog's urine spots
9. can grow well in wide variety of soil
You can read more on clover lawn at hubpage here.
When we were researching about clover, we picked white clover over red clover because white clover grows less tall compared to the red kind.
When you have more natural ways to combat with dogs' urine spot via clover lawn or watering the spots etc, why would you give something to change things manually via rock/supplement in your dog's water/food?
Clover seed is inexpensive,and clover lawn has so many benefit of doing so.
We like the clover lawn so far, and you may enjoy it too.
Pet safe, tough on urine spots.. and,I enjoy watching our dog roll on the clover lawn with big grin on her face with her tongue hanging out.
I am not sure that if clover lawn would take her favorite type of grasses out from our yard but we will see.
If you prefer the grass over clover, you can choose tougher grass with dog's urine such as ryegrass.
Enjoy pet safe lawn/garden!
If you live with furry furriends, household cleaners are not the only thing to think about.
Pet safe garden/lawn..
How do you care your lawn/yard/flower and vegetable garden? Do you use something to keep the bugs at bay? Do you recognize what plant,what kind of gardening materials are toxic to our furry furriends? That is another thing to think about.
Many of you would notice that, especially at early morning around spring time, our furry furriends seem to enjoy munching on salad bar in the yard.
They love to glaze grasses, and they love to roll on things in the yard and if you have been using some sort of pesticide to keep your lawn bug free, your furry furriends maybe ingesting the pesticide little by little. Is it okay for them? I personally prefer not to use such harsh chemicals in the yard and expose our furry furriends to those pesticide.
We do not use pesticide for our lawn and, if our stumpy little dog "Palette" wanted to roll on things or if she wanted to munch on her organic salad bar, we let her do that to her heart content since we know there is nothing harmful is used for our lawn, I can let her without worry.
I know that some people use food grade Diatomaceous Earth (not the kind to use for pool),which you can get at the garden center, to combat with flea/tick. The idea is that the DE (short for diatomaceous earth) can dehydrate those flea/tick and protect your pets from them.
Food grade DE is pet safe and,it is not toxic when/if they lick them. In fact, food grade DE can be used to worm dogs as well.
Some people use food grade DE in their yard as well, but I have heard that some people think that treating the yard with DE might actually dehydrate the good bugs such as earthworms and might not be good idea. I think it might be true.
Others treat yard with beneficial namatode to combat with garden bugs,flea etc..
I see that many people use mulch when gardening. Do you use mulch for your garden? If you do, what kinds of mulch do you use?
Some people might not notice, but there is a kind of mulch our furry furriends are toxic to. It is called "Cocoa Mulch".
What is cocoa mulch?
As you might be able to guess what it is made from, cocoa mulch is basically a cocoa bean shells.
According to nationalcocoashell website, shell of the cacao beans come off during the roasting process and, they are separated from the actual cocoa beans.Then,those shells are sold as mulch for gardeners.
Since cocoa shell used as mulch can retain moisture longer,smell better, and great insulator during harsh seasons for plants especially during winter, many gardeners use the cocoa shell as mulch.
However, as you know from our previous entry titled "Chocolate,Caffeine and Cacao", chocolate is toxic to our furry furriends because they contains the chemicals dogs cannot process in the body. It contains "methylxanthine alkaloids " in the form of theobromine and caffeinea.
Cocoa bean shells also contains the theorbromine,and caffeine and, if you live with furry furriends, you should consider what kinds of mulch you would be using for your garden and, how you protect them from such toxic materials in the garden.
Dogs have great sense of smell,and cocoa beans are quite aromatic and smell good items to your furry furriends and, very tempting for them not to munch on those.
As side note, if you grow tomatoes, plants,leaves, unripe green tomatoes are toxic to dogs and those are some other things to consider.
It is always good to research what plants are toxic, what plants are safe for your furry furriends when you do gardening.
Yard vs Digging problems..
When we talk about lawn, often times, I hear someone having trouble keeping their dogs from digging their precious flower garden.
If you think about it from their point of view,digging in the yard, making huge holes to sniff or bury is natural behavior of dogs. It just not something we human would be appreciated it if they dug in beautiful flower garden or vegetable garden.
To protect your flower/vegetable from being dug by your furry furriends, one thing you can do is to offer the place where they can dig to their heart content.
You can make digging space by putting sand in the wooden box,preferably in the shady place to protect them from hot sun during the summer. It is more fun if you got jackpot treats hidden in the sand box and let them go find it. Every time you find them digging the place they are allowed to dig,you can praise them and they would learn to dig the designated area,not your flower/vegetable garden.
Lawn vs Urine spots..
Another things pops out now and then on the talk of lawn is urine spot talk.
In the previous entry titled "Why we find vigorous grassy grass around dogs' pee area in our lawn", I wrote that dogs' pee contains "Nitrogen",and nitrogen is actually good for Lawn. However, nitrogen in the pee is so concentrated,and dogs repeatedly pee on the same spot,potty area's lawn gets burned.
I also wrote that Iowa state University turf grass expert "Nick" suggest that you spray the water right after dogs pee on the lawn to dilute the nitrogen in the dogs' pee. He suggests to let your dog pee on different spots rather than one particular spot.
I have come across a few products that are sold for urine spot treatment such as rock that you would put in the dog's water bowl and supposedly,it would change the dog's urine nitrogen level, and the other is tablet that ingredient list goes dried brewer's yeast,DL-Methionine,natural flavoring,magnesium stearate,yucca schidigera extract etc.
I think that we human tend to look for the quick solution whether it was for dog's weight loss or training issue or other issue like this. Personally, I prefer not to give anything to change things manually to solve our human problems.
If you have urine spot problems in your lawn, as Iowa state university turf grass expert "nick" suggests, water your lawn right away,and let your dogs do their potty on different spots.
Also, it is also good ideas to choose kind of grasses you plant for your lawn. One type of grass you can do is clover.
We recently sprinkled clover seed in our yard and, it has been a month or so,and our lawn is greener than before. Initially, we have implemented the idea to add clover to our lawn to reduce the frequency of mowing,but it sure makes our lawn much greener,and I like them.
According to landscaping.about.com website Clover has several points good for your lawn.
1. stays green all summer
2. free of weeds
3. does not require being fertilized due clover is nitrogen fixer
4. pest free
5. attract beneficial insects
6. soft footing
7. less frequency to be mowed
8. does not suffer from dog's urine spots
9. can grow well in wide variety of soil
You can read more on clover lawn at hubpage here.
When we were researching about clover, we picked white clover over red clover because white clover grows less tall compared to the red kind.
When you have more natural ways to combat with dogs' urine spot via clover lawn or watering the spots etc, why would you give something to change things manually via rock/supplement in your dog's water/food?
Clover seed is inexpensive,and clover lawn has so many benefit of doing so.
We like the clover lawn so far, and you may enjoy it too.
Pet safe, tough on urine spots.. and,I enjoy watching our dog roll on the clover lawn with big grin on her face with her tongue hanging out.
I am not sure that if clover lawn would take her favorite type of grasses out from our yard but we will see.
If you prefer the grass over clover, you can choose tougher grass with dog's urine such as ryegrass.
Enjoy pet safe lawn/garden!
Posted by yassy at 6/23/2011 12:51 PM 
Categories: Miscellaneous (dogs)
Tags: dogs grass lawn clover lawn
Categories: Miscellaneous (dogs)
Tags: dogs grass lawn clover lawn
Comments