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Problem with dog urine affecting the soil in my flower bed

ceinwen29yMlrjQ-aceinwen29yMlrjQ-a Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hi. New to this forum and equally new to gardening! I've created a lovely flower bed at the back of my garden and planted a couple of lavender bushes in one corner. Unfortunately, the dog next door pees in that corner of their (completely paved) garden and his pee soaks through constantly. That part of my border is always soaked and my lavender bushes are slowly dying off. I'm going to transplant them into a different part of the border well away from that area in the hope that they'll recover.

But, I don't want an empty space in my border so wondering if there is anyone who can advise a) how to counteract the effect of the dog urine and b) what plants would be best suited to that area.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated!!

Many thanks
Ceinwen

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    How annoying. The usual way is to water to dilute it, but that really isn't feasible.
    I think you may have to dig out the soil in that corner, and put a deep, physical barrier in to try and mitigate the problem. 
    Have you got a photo of the area? That might help with some further ideas.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    Dig down and put a polythene sheet down as a divider.
    I used to have a garden display by a road which had dog walkers going up and down all day, every day. Nothing ever grew near the pavement as it was just pissed on every 10 minutes.
  • Jenny_AsterJenny_Aster Posts: 945
    Our Rusty is a big dog, presently he's 42kg, and we don't have a big garden (10m x 10m). I've not really noticed any damage to plants by his piddling. Although more often than not, he does 'girly squats' on the lawn, which makes the lawn grow uneven and tufted with some areas needing cutting sooner than others. I put that down to the nitrogen in his water. (Bitch's urine I believe damage the lawn.) 

    My washing 'whirly gig' makes a great piddling post,. With the post being in the centre I've made a 2ft diameter bed and topped it with bark as a crude filter. This area gets hosed when it hasn't rained, or sprayed with a solution of bleach if it gets whiffy (nothing is growing there). I also have the option to easily replace the bark with fresh. Lad's got to pee somewhere.

    You could try soaking some bark in a strong solution of vinegar, baking soda, or hydrogen peroxide to counteract the ammonia and use the bark as a mulch in the area you mentioned. Spray the area with the solution regularly. 

    I've read roses are resistant to dog pee, they don't mind the high nitrogen. Maybe grow a bush or two that have a strong perfume, and perhaps longish thorns to deter the dog, and mulch with bark?  Google will tell you what other plants are resistant.

    The other plant that are interesting are marigolds, I've read that apparently dogs don't like them. I've planted a row of marigolds in front of my row of tomato plants. They were planted as companion plants for the tomato plants; thinking about it I've not seen my boy mooching in that area. 





    Trying to be the person my dog thinks I am! 

    Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
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