Dog wee ruining grass!!

Hi Everyone

We moved into our house last year and had a freshly turfed lovely green lawn. We got a dog last year and since then our lawn is gradually being ruined by our dogs wee. Some yellow spots and now lots of balled patches (see attached photo). Apart from watering down the area where he wees, does anyone have any advice on how to regrow the affected areas?

I have heard that rosemary water will heal the grass??

Also does anyone know of a durable grass species that fares better with dog wee??

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

 

Hi John
unfortunately that is what dogs do. To my knowledge there is no lawn grass type which will fare any better. The watering down of the area after a wee works. For the burnt areas mix some topsoil, sharps sand and grass seed together and reseed the patches starting in April. Believe me a dog will give you far more pleasure than a lawn, so a spotty lawn is a small price to pay. You are lucky our Cocker Molly digs a big hole in the middle of our lawn!

 

I never used to notice this much in winter due to the fact that the extra moisture in the ground tends to dilute the pee, but in summer bare dead patches were always a problem, but one I was prepared to live with.

 

Thanks for your reply. Can i ask what the sharps sand does? And do i just mix the soil, sand and seeds together and place over the patches? Thanks.

 

Hi John
the dog burns the grass because it is over fertilising it with nitrogen in the wee. I leave the burn spots for a while then absolutely drown the spot with water to reduce the nitrogen. Rake away the dead grass, and break up the soil. I then place about 10mm of top soil on it , then a mix of grass seed top soil and MPC. You can miss out the sharp sand, I add it to give a looser mix. keep the area watered and hopefully the grass will sprout in 2 weeks.
I have used the lawn spot repairers, which I found very expensive and not very effective.
Don't be tempted to give your dog stuff to prevent grass burning, no vets recommend this.
Anyway dogs are far more fun than lawns, consider that a few brown spots are a small price to pay to see your pampered pooch enjoying your garden!

 

Hi all,


First post and a problem we have been battling with for years.

Last year the hot Summer weather didn’t help with the problem, and even after flushing the grass down with copious amounts of water the dreaded brown patch of doom appeared.

We turned to the internet for advice and came up with “Dog Rocks”. We read the reviews and without delay ordered these wonder rocks. When they arrived we gazed at said rock and wondered if someone was maybe having a laugh at our expense (almost a tenner for 200g).

Needless to say after following the instructions to the letter 6 weeks later the lawn was still getting new dead patches and we were still flushing with water. So yes someone is having a laugh and no they do not work.

Over this winter we have put some time into training Our dog, a German Shepherd to use a small patch behind one of the sheds put aside for him. We put down a small piece of AstroTurf for him and he loves it. He now uses that without command and fingers crossed this Summers lawn should look a lot better.



Dave.