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Pets are people too, even if they have twice as many legs and
(usually) more body hair than the other members of the family. Having
our pets outdoors with us can add to our enjoyment and it can help to
keep them fit and healthy.

Today, I'll share some ideas about incorporating "pet friendly"
features into your landscape. But what about the, uh, less pleasant
aspect of what happens when dogs and lawns get together?

Let's clean up some of those issues first!

When it comes to solid waste, it is essential to clean up promptly
after your dog with a pooper-scooper and a plastic bag. This is an
obvious precaution if your dogs share your yard with your kids, but
even if your landscape is a "kid-free zone" you'll want to avoid
kneeling or stepping in Fido's droppings and dealing with the flies
they attract. We keep a supply of recycled plastic grocery bags on
hand that work just as well as the pet store bags.

Dog urine is less easy to deal with. If your dog is urinating on the
lawn, it seems that you can either resign yourself to the brown spots
or immediately flush the area each time with a garden hose.

There are products available that can be fed to dogs in order to
neutralize the acid in his or her urine. However, I'm aware of
concerns that altering a dog's pH level can lead to serious health
issues, and it's not a treatment I'd recommend.

I'm more comfortable with treating the grass rather than the dog.
There are a number of products on the market that are designed to
treat brown spots caused by canine urine. Products with names such as
Bring Back Green and G-Whiz are available online or at pet and garden
stores.

But if you can live without acres of lawn, consider an alternative
that could have several advantages. Replace a reasonably-sized area
of lawn with gravel and you'll find that most dogs actually prefer to
do their business there rather than on grass. In addition to reducing
or eliminating the brown spots on your lawn, you'll find that solid
waste is much easier to pick up from gravel than from grass.

Your best bet is to use ¾ inch gravel to prevent it being tracked into
the house, as can happen with finer gravel. Lay down the gravel to a
thickness of about 2" to 3" and pack it down firmly with a heavy
tamper that you can buy or rent from larger hardware stores. There are
a number of ornamental gravels available if you'd prefer something
other than plain old grey.
Edging the gravel area with bricks or pavers will prevent the gravel
from spreading over to your lawn.

When it comes to dog houses, it used to be that your choice was
limited to one design that looked like something Snoopy would sleep
on. Not any more!
Now you can find a variety of structures that are not only comfortable
for your pet but are also pleasing to look at. Instead of being
something of a visual blight that you were resigned to (rather like
the garbage can) many of these new structures blend in pleasantly with
your landscape design or create an architectural statement of their
own.

I've seen doggy log cabins, dog houses with covered porches, dog
chalets and dog bungalows... even mini-mansions for pampered pooches.
Cheryl and I bought one (not the mansion, however) and if Snoopy could
see it, he'd definitely want to sleep IN it rather than ON it!

You can research some of these new breeds of dog houses online, but if
you'd like some shopping information, send me a note at
and I'll try to help.

With a comfortable, attractive dog house and a clean, mess-free lawn,
your landscape can be a source of enjoyment for you and for your dogs.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs
and landscaping to and for resources and
additional information, or to subscribe to Steve's free e-mailed
newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

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Poppycock. I have a rocky area, a no green area (native soil) made by the
dogs, weed area, and, a lawn area that's all fenced in around the house.
The dogs go wherever for their wet business.

For their not so wet business, they prefer the lawn. They prefer St.
Augustine vs. Bermda. My children are grown and gone. I just look where
I'm going. The lawnmower and intermittent scarab beetles do the rest of the
job.

My dogs sleep on the big comfortable front porch. They have a cinder block
dog house. Concrete filled fissures. Built on a slab. Insulated all sides
and top. The roof is a flat steel roof. They use it for a sentry point on
the roof. Built in the side of hill. I'm going there if there's warning of
nukes coming.

No thanks, I don't buy from puppy farms.

Believe me, the dogs don't care what the lawn looks like. They do like to
roll and lay on the lawn after I mow it. Appearance, nope.
Dave