8 Ways To Make Your Yard More Pet-Friendly

We've talked about how you can pet-proof your yard, but we’re here to share how you can keep your yard more pet-friendly overall. The two most popular pets in the United States are dogs and cats, respectively. These two types of animals can spend a lot of time outside when you’re not actively watching them, getting into all sorts of trouble.

How many dog owners have had their beloved canines dig through the garden, dig holes in the middle of the lawn, or try to dig a tunnel under the neighbor’s fence? How many cat owners have had their prized feline tear up flowers or cover tree trunks in claw marks? Well, you can’t completely stop an animal from being an animal, but you can help them think twice about destroying your yard and make sure they don’t hurt themselves at the same time.

8 Ways To Make Your Yard More Pet-Friendly

When you’re making your yard more pet-friendly, the most important thing is to make sure you’re keeping your best pal safe. Thankfully, this tends to line up with ways that keep your plants and landscaping out of your pet’s reach or distract them from any landscaping projects you’re working on when you can’t watch them. They’re not all going to fit your landscaping or pet-owning style, but at least one of the ways we’ve come up with should help you out. 

1. You can create pet-friendly zones in your yard with fencing or raised flower beds. This won’t work for cats or larger dogs, but it can keep small dogs out of areas where they shouldn’t be, such as those with harmful chemicals like insecticides or herbicides. This will also protect the flower beds that need those insecticides and herbicides.
2. If you plan to build a pond or pool, you want to ensure your pet can’t get into it. For ponds, make sure it’s not deeper than your pet is tall, or you can put up a gate as you would with pools. This will protect it from dogs and cats as long as it's high enough. 
3. Plant trees and shrubs that can provide shade for your pet during the summer months. This will keep them from wanting to lay on a cool flower bed you’ve just watered.
4. You can create a designated ‘bathroom’ area in your garden for your pet. You can use gravel, sand, mulch, and/or wood chips as a surface for them to do their bathroom business. With some training, they’ll know that this is an area meant for their bathroom business, not your garden or the patches of grass that you’re trying to grow. 
5. There are many plants that are not edible, but not every dog or cat knows that, even if you tell them a million times. You can plant edible treats such as wheatgrass, lavender, and rosemary away from non-edible plants. It’s a distraction to keep your pets from ingesting toxic plants and soil additives.
6. Rather than risk your pets getting sick, you can use pet-safe pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in your garden. There are also organic options you might prefer.
7. Lay down underlayment around your plants so your pet can’t dig or eat the soil around your plants. This will protect your plants’ roots and keep your pet from ingesting anything that they shouldn’t.
8. Clean your pet’s paws and nose. Even if they don’t eat anything, stepping on the ground that has been bathed in chemicals can be dangerous for them after long exposure. It can also track pesticides and other chemicals in your house.

How Can Pesticides and Other Landscaping Materials Hurt Your Pet?

Pesticides and other chemicals like insecticides are unsafe for your pets for the same reasons they’re unsafe for you. They are made with chemicals that can harm your throat and stomach and poison everything connected to them. This is why it's important for you to wash your hands and clean your tools after using them.

Even if your pet knows not to eat any of the dirt or plants in your garden, being around them regularly can still hurt them. Your pet doesn’t wear gloves, and it doesn’t know that something is bad for them until they at least smell it. Then your pet has these chemicals on them that neither of you knows about, slowly making them sick. It’s important for everyone that your pet isn’t consistently exposed to landscaping materials.

Contact Pioneer Landscape Centers for Pet-Friendly Materials

For things like underlayment, new clean tools, and any other building materials for your pet-friendly endeavors, there’s no better place than Pioneer Landscape Centers. We can help you figure out exactly what you need and recommend products that will be safer for your pet than others. For help, contact the experts at your local Pioneer Landscape Centers today.