Pet-friendly rental homes are a growing segment of the New Haven single-family rental home market. Pets are so common these days that this 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. There are some pets, though, that often use the lawn as their waste area, causing multiple spots on the lawn to turn brown. To prevent this, try a few strategies from lawn care experts to prevent pet urine from spoiling your rental home’s lawn.
Nitrogen is what causes grass to turn brown. Dog urine contains high amounts of nitrogen. In small amounts, nitrogen is good for your lawn. Too much, though, will kill the grass, leading to brown patches. So, if your dog has designated spots for urinating, avoid putting nitrogen-rich fertilizer in those spots. You might be damaging the lawn more with your fertilizer if it has nitrogen in it, so be careful to either choose a nitrogen-free fertilizer or don’t apply fertilizer to the pet urine spots.
Another simple strategy is to rinse the lawn after your dog urinates on it. It’s more convenient if your dog urinates in the same place. In any case, spraying the lawn with water will help dilute the urine and prevent it from burning the grass.
A few dog owners have also found that by encouraging their pets to drink more water or by giving them supplements designed to neutralize the nitrogen in their urine, they can avoid those nasty brown spots of dead grass. In giving your dog more water, you’re diluting their urine. This, however, doesn’t work on all dogs, as too much water could prove harmful to most pets. The alternative is to try pet-safe supplements designed to help minimize the damage to your lawn. Dietary supplements like these are said to bind with the nitrogen in your dog’s urine, making it less harmful to grass.
And last but not the least, multiple pet owners have protected their rental home’s lawn from pet urine spots by training their dog to urinate in other areas. If there are areas in your yard that do not have grass, those are the areas where you want to train your dog to urinate. This is a considerable option, especially if your dog is receptive to consistent training. Some other options you could explore include 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 it takes to prevent your dog from damaging a healthy, green lawn.
Good lawn maintenance can encourage a healthy lawn that is resistant to brown spots. But sometimes even careful tending and daily watering aren’t enough to prevent them. Pay attention to these strategies so that you can keep your pet-friendly rental home and lawn in top condition. If you need help managing your pet-friendly rental or finding tenants, contact us online or call us at 203-821-7303 for a consultation.
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