Having A Pet-Friendly Garden
Having a Pet-friendly Garden
By Elizabeth D. Johnson
Generally, handling both pets and gardens is difficult. The impression when the two are present in the household is pets destroy the gardens and for some, this might be true and all you need is some creativity to accommodate them. However, animals cannot be disregarded since they are part of your life; thus, you need to take into consideration its needs when setting out to arrange the yard.
Pets do their business in the garden often and normally, this is the major concern of gardeners. Both urine of dog and cat leaves spots of browns in lawns, particularly if your pets regularly return on the same spot all the time. Watering the area or cleaning it with gypsum should ease your problem.
The most crucial choice that you would want to make is to cover or scoop your pet's poop. Never add wastes on compost or area where edible plants grow since cats and dogs are carnivores, their poops are of meat kind which does not fit in there. Pet wastes have harmful bacteria, parasites, and other disease-causing organisms.
So, what are must-haves of dogs and cats? The answer is water and shade. Allow your pets to have water to drink. It should be placed in a large bowl where they can easily access it without crushing your plants or where no human can step on it. Refill the water as often as you can, it might get too hot under the sun or dry up. Also, let your pets have some shade to rest. It cannot be avoided that they may choose to rest under your plants, but pruning your branches would affect your pets' choice of place. On dogs, you must have enough space for both playing and "call of nature" activities since they just poop to the exact place where they rest and play. On the cats' side, you must watch over them without disturbing them. Moreover, cats like to scratch and if they are outdoors, the main scratching target would be trees. However young trees can't endure this, tying a tape or wire may help to avoid severe damage.
In some cases, birds are also being placed outside. It would be better if it is temporary. Leaving caged birds unattended is not a great idea; vermin are closely attracted to its food and worse, wild birds that visit can pass on diseases.
Gardeners with pets should be very extra careful when using gardening products. Thus, storing them in a safe would greatly help. Take into consideration the plants that you choose to grow and where you would plant it. There are instances where pets eat your plants and causing stomach problems, a visit to your veterinarian is your best option.
Having your own pets in home is not a hindrance to your garden. All you need is to balance both needs; hence, dealing with the two would not be difficult as what you think.
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