Pet-friendly rental homes are a growing segment of a Fisher’s single-family rental home market. Many renters want or already have a pet, which has prompted many property owners to allow them under certain conditions. Most pet-friendly rentals include a lawn that is designed with a pet’s safety in mind. But, some pets, like dogs, may use that lawn as a waste area, which will create unsightly brown spots in an otherwise healthy expanse of green. To help prevent pet urine spots from spoiling your rental home’s lawn, apply at least one or more of these strategies recommended by lawn care experts.
The reason that dog urine causes grass to turn brown is that it has a lot of nitrogen. In small amounts, nitrogen is good for your lawn. But too much in one spot can perhaps kill the grass, leading to brown patches in the yard. Just in case your dog tends to urinate in the same places every time, one thing you can surely do is to avoid putting nitrogen-rich fertilizer in those areas. You may be damaging the lawn more with your fertilizer if it has nitrogen in it, so be cautious to either choose a nitrogen-free fertilizer or don’t apply fertilizer to the pet urine spots.
One other simple strategy is to rinse the lawn once your dog urinates on it. This is a whole lot easier whenever your dog tends to go to the same places all the time. But even when that is not the matter, spraying the lawn with water will surely help dilute the urine and prevent it from burning the grass.
Similarly, some dog owners have found success by simply encouraging their pets to drink more water or over giving them supplements designed to neutralize the nitrogen in their urine. The reason behind the first approach is to dilute your dog’s urine by giving them more water. Conceding that this can work with certain dogs, it’s also important not to give your dog too much water, or they could become ill. The alternative is to try pet-safe supplements designed to help minimize the damage to your lawn. Dietary supplements such as these are believed to bind with the nitrogen in your dog’s urine, causing it to be less harmful to grass.
Lastly, many pet owners have protected their rental home’s lawn from pet urine spots by training their dog to urinate in other areas. Just in case there are places in the yard that do not have grass, you can perhaps train your dog to urinate there. This approach makes sense if it follows that your dog is receptive to consistent training. You could even use fencing or a urine-resistant ground cover to create a dog-friendly place for them to pee. A small patch of clover, pea gravel, or even mulch could be all you need to keep your dog from damaging a healthy, green lawn.
Good lawn maintenance will encourage a healthy lawn resistant to brown spots. But it’s true that, occasionally, even careful tending and daily watering aren’t adequate to prevent them. By taking advantage of one or some of the top strategies in this article, you could keep your pet-friendly rental home and lawn in great condition. If you need help managing your pet-friendly rental or finding tenants, contact us today at 317-420-8500 for a consultation.
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