A love of the outdoors and a passion for pets often go hand in hand, but as you’ll know, our four-legged friends can make maintaining a garden a major challenge. If you’re not careful, you could find your feline or canine companions all but destroying your outside space. Luckily, there are ways to minimize the damage caused by our furry associates. To help you pet-proof your garden, pick up some simple tools at retailers like Tesco or Home Hardware and take a look at the following top tips.
Consider pets when planning your layout
When you’re deciding on a layout for your outdoor area, make sure you consider the habits and behavior of your animals. For example, if you have a dog that loves to patrol the perimeter of your property, it might be a good idea to leave a space between your fences, flowers, and plants. Alongside this, make sure the fence is the correct height and of good quality, similar to those from Northland Fence. To stop your dog from digging in the rest of your yard, you could create a separate play area of loose soil or sand for them . Encourage them to use it by placing some toys there. Follow the pet guide for more ideas.
Be savvy in your plant selection
Choose your plants carefully too. Things that grow up trellises or other support structures tend to fare better around animals than short plants or shrubs that can easily be crushed. It’s also worth noting that pungent herbs, such as sage and rosemary, can deter cats. Additionally, if you need to clear away fallen leaves without disturbing your carefully selected plants, using a cordless leaf blower can be a gentle yet effective option, helping to maintain a tidy garden without damaging delicate areas.
Protect your beds
It’s important to take steps to protect your flowerbeds. To stop dogs or cats lying in these areas, try creating some holes with a garden digging fork and driving short stakes or thorny branches into the soil. If your pet is a particular menace to the plants in your garden, you might want to go a little further and make fences from chicken wire to keep smaller animals at bay. Alternatively, you can mark your area with flowerbeds as dangerous with the help of a GPS cat collar app and get notified once your pet approaches the flowerbeds. Тhis way you will minimize the risks of your pet being injured and your garden being ruined.
Try a few odour deterrents too. Some pet owners find that orange or lemon peel can help to keep inquisitive pets off their flowerbeds, and coffee grounds can have a similar effect.
If money is no object then you might also want to invest in a motion-activated sprinkler systems to protect the most vulnerable spots in your outdoor space. If you do this though, position them carefully so that you don’t soak unsuspecting people as they pass by.
Think twice before using chemicals
It’s one thing protecting your garden from other peoples pets/wild animals, but bear in mind your animals must be kept safe too. Minimizing your use of chemicals is crucial if you let your animals loose in the area, and always read the safety instructions before using fertilizers and other substances. Make sure you steer clear of toxic plants as well.
As long as you follow advice like this, you should find your pets and garden are able to get along just fine.