Top tips for maintaining a lawn with pets

While you may yearn for a delicate ornamental grass at your home, if you have a dog, you might want to consider something a bit tougher, that will put up with the skidding, digging and we hate to say it – peeing!

But fear not, we are here to help! Follow our top tips on how to maintain a lawn with pets and discover some of the ways that you can still have a gorgeous green lawn, without having to compromise due to the dogs!

• Choose your grass seed wisely

When you are looking for a grass seed that will put up with your dog, you need one that is strong, durable, and quick to establish. While no grass will ever fully withstand the rough play of a dog, some will be more suited than others. Our FAMILY: Kids and Pets grass seed mix is a blend of perennial ryegrass and fescues. The perennial ryegrass produces a strong and durable sward, that will establish quickly and put up with all the ‘ruff’ play, while the fescues will produce a finer leafed sward that will create that green, lush lawn that you are after!

• Feed your lawn regularly

Keeping your lawn well fed, is just as important as any other lawncare that you do. Using a fertiliser on your lawn throughout the year will help to ensure that it is protected during the winter months when the weather is harsh and challenging, and also during the summer months when it is put to the test!

When it comes to fertilisers, you can either choose a slow release or quick release one, and the difference is just what you would assume from their names. A slow-release fertiliser like our SLOW RELEASE: Spring/ Summer, will work at feeding your lawn over  16 weeks. It will steadily feed your lawn with a range of nutrients to ensure that your lawn is healthy and ready to take on the wear and tear. Whereas a quick release fertiliser like our QUICK RELEASE: Spring / Summer feed, will work over a course of 6 weeks to boost your lawn full of the nutrients that it needs over a shorter period of time.

Either one will help your lawn to fight off any weeds, diseases and of course, damage from your pets much better than an unfed lawn.

• Clean up the mess

It’s easier said than done, but a quick clean up after your dog goes outside will go a long way in helping your grass stay green and thick. If your dog uses your garden as a bathroom, try to keep an eye on them when they do it so that you can follow behind and try to reduce the effects of their pee on your lawn. The nitrogen in dog urine can scorch your grass blades and leave you with yellow, brown, or dead patches of grass. Try flushing urine spots with water to help reduce damage to your lawn. The water dilutes the urine and washes away harmful nitrogen and salts from the grass.

• Repair the damage

As with any well used and loved lawn, there will always be a time when it looks a bit worse for wear and has begun to show bare spots or thinning patches. Even with the best lawn care and attention, bare spots and thinning areas are inevitable if you have a dog playing on your lawn all day, every day!

To help revitalise your lawn and bring it back to its former glory, you can carry out some overseeding. This will help to fill out any patches and leave you with a thick and even cover of grass once again. If you’re unsure about how to do this, our guide on how to overseed should help.

We hope that our tips will help you to maintain your garden this spring season and keep the damage to a minimum from your dogs. For more guidance on how to manage your lawn with dogs, our helpful guide on how to protect your grass from dog urine and how to repair dog urine patches will certainly keep you going in the right direction.

If there is anything else, you can always contact our team on [email protected].