10 Simple Landscaping Ideas to Dog-proof Your Garden

dog proof garden ideas

R & J Landscapes (London) understand that for some, a house becomes a home when it’s shared with with a family pet, but sharing your lovely landscape with a fun and feisty dog isn’t always kind to your garden. This month, R&J Landscapes are here to share some dog proof landscape ideas that will keep your furry friend happy and your garden healthy.

The best ways to tailor your landscape with your pets in mind:

  • Gentle hardscape – this refers to hardy materials such as paved pathways, rockeries, stairs, sleeper walls and pebble gardens. When incorporated into a soft green landscape, it’s called gentle hardscape. An ideal type of landscape that’ll offer you the greenery and planting beds you desire, as well as the perfect playground where your dog can exercise.
  • Comfy mulch – to ensure comfort when your pets are outdoors, mulch such as small cedar chips and forest bark are great solutions. They’re pleasant under your dog’s paws as it offers them cushioning and warmth underfoot. These chips add a lovely colour to the garden and what’s better, is that they won’t get stuck to your pup’s fur – keeping your home and them clean.
  • Borders – using driftwood or decorative fencing as borders around your flower patches can deter your dog away from these areas.
  • Running track – dogs will naturally follow a pathway if you provide one amongst your gentle hardscaping. A winding path will offer them a place for them to patrol.
  • Sensible plants – choose hardy plants that’ll withstand the hustle and bustle from a canine’s curious roughhousing, is the way to go. Shrubs and bushes are an ideal way to decorate or border your dog’s path, should they want to nose inside the bushes, they won’t be able to uproot them like they would with delicate flowers.
  • Marking posts – putting up posts in your garden will encourage your dog to mark their territory here, rather than creating urine spots amongst your green landscape.

dogs-garden-fence

Know what your pet likes

All dogs are different, however certain breeds of canines have particular traits that they tend to adopt when they grow up. Terriers like to dig, Beagles like to escape and adventure and Retrievers enjoy a good swim. Of course, your dog may differ because it all depends on their very own personality but generally, this is the case.

Knowing what your dog enjoys and their usual habits will help you to sculpt your garden to best suit both them and you.

  • Worn pathway in the lawn – when you redo your garden, follow the path that they have already created in your lawn. It’s a sensible trick, to cover their tracks because chances are, they will still enjoy running up and down this path – even when you change out the grass for an alternate, paw-friendly material.
  • Let them enjoy their favourite areas – if they have favourite areas of your garden, let them keep these and build decorative, sturdy fencing around areas you wish keep them away from. This is an ideal way to secure your flower beds and vegetable patches.
  • High-rise garden beds – raising your flower beds will deter your pets away and will create a lack of interest for them. This will allow you to enjoy a clean and tidy section of the garden, where you can plant, grow or entertain. Creating levels to your garden can help you to divide you and your pet’s interests – so you can get the most out of your landscape.
  • Self-repairing grass – it’d be a shame to keep your pets completely away from any grassy areas because pets do enjoy a good roll around on the smooth, soft grass. So invest in self-repairing grass, this will save you the headache of bald patches and reseeding.

R&J Landscapes have over 30 years working in the industry, providing both domestic and commercial customers with a number of first-rate services. Our services include: paving services, driveway services, landscaping services, turfing services, fencing, decking, tree work, tree surgery and general garden maintenance. Based in Buckinghamshire we offer our services throughout a number of locations including Harrow, Aylesbury and Watford. If you would like to talk to a member of our team about your requirements, call us today and let’s schedule you in.