Suitable Plants To Withstand Dog Urine
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Marianne McQuaker
Posted on: February 26, 2007

This question does not relate to pet health as much as my garden’s health. What is the best groundcover to buy that can tolerate the urine of my 5 year old female standard poodle? She kills all the grass, even if I water down the urine after she’s finished. My backyard is a retangular space of about 12 X 16 ft, with a boarder area where I grow flowers, herbs etc. She does get walked everyday twice a day outside the yard, but is always put out in our backyard first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. What plant will stay green after exposure to this daily assault? I hope to rip out whatever grass is left and replace it with a suitable groundcover this spring.

I have heard from my contacts with a vet office that feeding the dog tomato juice will make its urine less damaging to grass. I do not know how much is needed to get the desired result, but maybe you could experiment. It certainly won’t hurt the dog!

The toughest ground cover I know of is Ground Ivy/ Alehoof or Glechoma hederacea. But do not introduce it if you are unwilling to use Round-up to get rid of it!

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