How to Fix Dog Pee Spots on Lawns
Fortunately, dog urine grass repair is a quick and easy lawn fix with the right information and lawn repair products. It helps to understand the types of urine spots dogs cause on lawns. Two types trouble dog owners most: green spots and brown spots. Dog urine causes both types, but the reasons and remedies are different.
How to Fix Green Lawn Spots
Reading: Dog urine damage to lawn
Because your dog’s urine is naturally high in nitrogen—an essential plant nutrient—Fido’s favorite spots can become greener than the surrounding grass. This happens primarily on grass that hasn’t had enough nitrogen from fertilizer.4 Your whole lawn could be that same rich color if it had the extra nitrogen it needs.
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To determine if your grass lacks available nutrients due to soil pH or other reasons, take a soil sample and have it tested. Correct low nitrogen in your lawn by applying Pennington UltraGreen Lawn Fertilizer 34-0-4 every 60 to 90 days through the growing season, or as recommended by your soil testing lab. This fertilizer increases drought tolerance, which is very similar to tolerance to urine salts, while boosting nutrient uptake for a lush, green lawn.
How to Fix Brown Lawn Spots
The most severe cases of dog urine lawn damage result in brown spots, which are areas of dead and dying grass. Lawns that are overly dry or already weak and stressed are especially susceptible to this type of dog urine damage. Whenever patches of brown grass appear, water the area deeply and repeatedly to flush the urine salts out of the surrounding soil.5 Minor dog urine damage may fill in with the surrounding grass over time, but you don’t have to wait on nature.
Even though you can’t bring dead grass killed by dog urine back to life, you can repair dog urine spots so they look as good as new. First, remove the dead grass from the area, and then repair the spot with Pennington One Step Complete. This all-in-one remedy for dog lawn spots combines drought-tolerant, water-conserving, premium Pennington Smart Seed grass seed, professional-grade fertilizer and natural wood mulch to grow beautiful, healthy grass where brown dog spots were.
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Whenever you do lawn repairs, remember to keep your pet away from any area with new grass seed. You don’t need to worry about your dog, but you do need to protect your future grass. New grass seed needs time to germinate and get established with strong healthy roots before it’s ready for Fido to visit and play. A good rule of thumb is to let grass grow and mow it at least three to four times before you allow dog or people traffic.
How to Prevent Dog Urine Spots on Lawns
To help prevent dog urine spots around your lawn, the best plan of attack is to train your pooch to relieve himself in a specific area of your yard.1 Mulch an area of your landscape with natural wood mulch so it blends in well and Fido can urinate somewhere other than on your grass. Dogs usually respond well to the extra attention and praise that using their special spot brings.
Avoid using mulch made from cocoa bean hulls, even though it smells nice and chocolaty and looks good. Cocoa bean hulls can be toxic to your canine friend if he decides to investigate that smell and see how things taste—and he probably will.
Some pet stores and even vet clinics offer dietary supplements that promise to change the nitrogen content or pH of dog urine. However, there is no scientific evidence that these products work. Some of these supplements are known to cause urinary system problems and other dangerous issues for some pets, such as calcium deposits in young dogs.1
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