Is it possible to have a beautiful garden when you have dogs?

I was actually thinking about my spring flowers in the shower on Wednesday morning. Given that we'll be down the shore a lot this spring, when will I plant them? And given that we'll likely be down a lot in the summer, how will I tend to them? I crapped out on them last year as it was. Something I go back and forth on every year is what to do in the back yard given that it's dog land back there. This sponsored post talks a little about that. I won't lie, I'm intrigued by easier clean up.

*********

Dogs are great, and are so fun, loving and cute that there is no question. But there are a few things that come with having a dog as a pet. Each pet comes with its caveats, fishes grow too big for their tanks, an axolotl needs updated habitat every few years, and cats sometimes use your sofa as a scratch post. If you asked a dog lover which they would choose out of their dogs and a perfectly manicured garden what they would say. However, there is something of a revolution going on in domestic garden design that may prove interesting to dog owners: the use of artificial grass. 

There was a time when artificial grass was largely just associated with golf clubs, tennis courts and leisure centres, but these days, artificial grass is big news in design. This is probably because the technology has advanced so much that high end artificial grass by some of the leading names like Grono is virtually indistinguishable from very well kept live grass. Now, rather than looking unnaturally green or plastic and strange, artificial grass looks as good as a live lawn – better, in fact, when you consider that there are very few things that can mess it up and you don’t have to mow it to keep it neat!

Why This is a Great Option for Dog People

The garden can be a great place for your dogs to play and run free – and to spend time with them in the warmer months playing fetch or just hanging out! Unfortunately, however, dogs do tend to mess up even the best maintained lawns, creating big divots of turf with their claws as they run, jump and dig. While at first the dogs may seem suspicious of an artificial lawn because it doesn’t smell the same to them as natural grass, this is more likely to make them curious than anything, and the soft feel of the slightly springy surface – even when the weather is dry and normal lawns would feel dry, scratchy and hard – usually appeals as a great place to play, sunbathe or do whatever your dogs love to do!

The resilience of an artificial lawn means that it is very hard for them to affect how it looks, so no matter how boisterous your furry friends are, the garden will stay looking perfect – and artificial lawns last for as many as 20 years!

Keeping It Clean

Artificial lawns absorb and drain moisture efficiently, so your dogs’ ‘number ones’ are no more of a problem than on live grass. When it comes to their ‘other business’, it is actually much easier to keep the lawn clean, as once you’ve removed the evidence you can rinse the grass with detergent or a natural vinegar solution.

Some Other Benefits

As well as being great for keeping your lawn looking good when you have pets, artificial grass also saves you a huge amount of time on garden maintenance, and is also eco-friendly – you will save gallons of water every year because it never needs to be watered, and you won’t need to use any pesticides, weed killers or fertilizers.

There are of course other ways to have a nice looking garden when you have playful pets, but if you love the look of grass, an artificial lawn can give you the look you want without your canine friends messing it up or tracking muddy paws through the house after a session out playing!

*********

How do you maintain your grass and flowers with dogs around?