Petscaping: Creating a Pet-Friendly Garden

If you love your pets and your gardens, you should try petscaping. This type of garden design has the goal of keeping your animal companions safe while preventing them from destroying your beautiful yard. Follow these suggestions for creating pet-friendly spaces.

Safety Considerations

• Toxic plants. Choosing nontoxic plants can ensure your pet is not accidentally poisoned. There are several common garden plants that are toxic to dogs and/or cats, including azaleas, rhododendrons, yew, autumn crocus, and English ivy. Both dogs and cats should avoid daffodil and tulip bulbs. Lilies are toxic to cats. For a complete list, visit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) website. Begin by evaluating your current landscape, checking your plants against the ASPCA list. Also, be aware of plants that may grow wild in your garden, such as mushrooms, many of which are toxic. Another example, white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), prevalent on my property, is a noxious weed harmful to all animals when ingested. As with mushrooms, you should remove and dispose of snakeroot immediately. If you have difficulty identifying a plant, take a photograph or a sample to the Extension office.
• Plants with thorns. Watch out for thorns in the soft pads of your pet's feet and monitor any scratches that could become an issue. If your dog goes headfirst into a rose, they could end up with eye trauma. Even a minor scratch or injury could cause lasting damage and loss of vision.
• Mulch. As gardeners, we know the value of mulch to suppress weeds and help retain water, but be aware that cocoa mulch contains the same ingredient that makes chocolate toxic to your dog. Instead, choose natural wood chips such as cedar or pine. Your pet may be sensitive to wood mulches that contain color dyes.
• Fertilizers and insecticides. Properly use and store fertilizers and insecticides. Store them in secure, labeled containers. Always read the label thoroughly before using them. Keep your pets out of the garden for the designated amount of time after applying chemicals. Use safer alternatives: fertilize with worm castings or fish fertilizer; control aphids and spider mites with a strong spray of water or with an application of horticultural oil. Hoe and pull weeds as they appear to reduce the need for herbicides.
• Compost. Secure your compost bin so that your pets can't eat the contents. Eating old vegetables could be quite dangerous.
• Ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas. Tall grasses may harbor harmful insects such as ticks. You can help reduce their population by removing leaf litter and mowing and trimming turfgrass. Conduct a weekly mosquito maintenance check: remove any standing water and clean and change the water in birdbaths.

Petscaping Design

Your petscaping design will be successful if you consider your pet's safety in every choice you make. Elements of the design include establishing boundaries, providing shade, giving access to fresh water, and including areas for elimination. If you have a dog, you will need to incorporate places to run and play.

• Establish boundaries. While you may not be able to train your cat, it is essential that your dog learns to obey basic commands. Dogs are able to grasp which areas of the yard are off-limits. Use short fences or borders to show the parameters. By using the same material for all the barriers, your dog will recognize the boundaries. Raised beds for planting areas can serve as a deterrent. If you install perimeter fencing and your pet likes to patrol, you should leave a two or three-foot empty border between the fence and the planting beds.
• Create densely planted areas. Densely planted areas serve to protect tender plants. Shield delicate vegetation with hardy shrubs and sturdy perennials.
• Provide an area for exercise. Dogs are designed to run. Leave a part of your yard as grass where your dog can run and play. Your pet will be less likely to dash through your beds if you provide a designated area for exercise. Provide toys such as a ball knot toy that hangs from a bungee cord.
• Make pathways. Pathways can help train your pet to know where it should and shouldn't be in the garden. An excellent method is to notice which route your pet usually takes to a favorite area and make it into a pathway. Use paw-friendly materials such as flagstones or smooth gravel — nothing sharp.
• Build a dig pit. Dogs will dig, so provide a dig pit where your pet can engage in its natural instincts. Fill the pit with sand. Bury toys, bones, or treats just under the surface. Praise your pet for digging in the special area.
• Create an area for elimination. To solve the problem of unsightly brown spots on the lawn caused by nitrogen in dog urine, create a designated area for your dog to eliminate. Train your pet to use this area. Deter cats from defecating in your flower beds by installing a motion-activated sprinkler or by covering the soil with uncomfortable material such as chicken wire. Make a cat sandbox. Surround it with catnip plants (Nepeta cataria) to attract your pet to the litterbox.
• Provide shade and water. Dogs have few sweat glands, so they are especially sensitive to heat. Provide adequate protection from the sun. It is equally important to keep your pet hydrated, so have a source of clean water available. A kiddie pool should keep him out of the koi pond.

Draw Your Plan

Make a scale drawing of your garden. Place a sheet of tracing paper on top and sketch areas of sun and shade. Show the pathways your dog takes through the property — these will become your established paths. Mark areas of particular interest and put in the specific items that meet your pet's needs, such as a digging pit. Add plants, including some that animals can eat: catnip, lemon grass, and valerian for cats, and maybe some extra fruit and vegetables for dogs. Remember to check with your veterinarian if you are changing your pet's diet.

Petscaping goes beyond choosing pet-friendly plants. It makes having a lovely garden and outdoor pets a possibility. Petscaping provides a beautiful space where you and your animal companions can safely live and play.