Conception of a Pet Friendly Landscape

Even if you choose proper pet safe plants, then you still need to make sure you have a pet friendly landscape that provides a safe environment for your pet. When it comes to designing a pet friendly landscape, you need to place safety first above all else.

Assess you current landscape design for any obvious hazards and potential troubles before you bring a new pet home. This way you can focus on your new pet when you bring them home rather than your yard.

Proper Barriers

The most important aspect of a pet friendly landscape, is  gates and fences. If you don’t have gates and fences, then this will be the first thing you’ll have to do. Even if you already have these, then you should walk the perimeter of your property and make sure you inspect all areas. Consider some of the following areas to make sure that your property is ready for your pets.

Makes sure all gates latch correctly. Make sure there are no rusty or that pieces are missing. All fences should be the standard height of six feet. Any shorter, and your dog may be able to jump over the fence and into the neighbors yard.

If your dog is of a larger breed type, then you may need to have a fence higher than six feet, perhaps at least an eight feet fence. Make sure the gates don’t have an open space underneath which would allow your dog to dig a hole under the fence.

Proper Ground Cover

If you have dogs, they will likely want to patrol their perimeters, this is why you will want to make their pathways safe and easy on their paws. You must also remember that whatever they walk on will be tracked indoors, so dirt paths may not be an excellent option if you have carpets and floors. Consider some of the following options that will work for a pet friendly landscape.

Grass can be a good option for hot climates,  so it is cool on your pets paws during the hot days. Another option is pea gravel or decomposed granite. You can even choose concrete or brick interspersed with gravel or groundcover for a decorative appearance to your pet friendly landscape.

Soft cedar bark chips can provide a fresh smell to your yard and provide an excellent cushion for your dogs paws, it is also an excellent mulch option.

Toxins

After designing a pet friendly landscape and checking it for escapes, accidents or various hazards,  it is time to look at what is in your yard.

This means the pesticides, fertilizers and weed killers that you place on your plants. Make sure all these containers are tightly sealed and stored in a location where pets can reach them. Make sure you specifically follow the instructions on the labels of all toxins and keep pets away from your landscape until after all the applications have dried.

Filed under: Safe Places