How to Stop Pets from Urinating in Your Plants
Install barriers around your garden., Make the soil undesirable., Grow plants your pets don’t like., Create a separate garden area for your cat., Teach your dog where to urinate in the yard., Use deterrent devices near your garden.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Install barriers around your garden.
Physical barriers will prevent your pets from getting near your outdoor plants.
Examples of barriers are chicken wire fences and wire cages.These materials are available at your local home improvement store.
Talk with the store’s staff for advice on building a fence or cage according to the specific size of your garden.
To build a chicken wire fence, pound metal stakes into the ground and attach the chicken wire to the stakes.A chicken wire fence does not need to be very high.
A fence about two feet (0.6 meters) tall will probably be high enough to keep your pets out of your garden.A wire cage would be useful if you think your pets may climb or jump over the fence.
A fence or cage could be unsightly. -
Step 2: Make the soil undesirable.
If installing barriers is not practical for you, try different strategies to keep your pets out of your garden.
Making the soil undesirable applies to cats, since they are sensitive to how a surface feels when they urinate or defecate.
The cool, damp soil in your garden feels good to your cat, so you will need to make the soil feel uncomfortable.Below are examples of items you can use:
Chicken wire Rough-textured mulch Prickly pine cones Chop sticks or plant stakes, placed about 8 inches (20 cm) apart Large, flat stones Citrus (lemon, orange) peels , If your pets don’t like the plants in your garden, they probably won’t urinate there.
Examples of plants that cats dislike are rue (blue foliage that has a bad odor), geraniums, and various herbs (such as thyme).Neither cats nor dogs like prickly or thorny plants, such as rose bushes, barberry, and hollies.
If you want to plant a prickly plant, choose one with short thorns that won’t damage your pets’ eyes.The coleus plant has a strong odor that dogs and cats dislike., If your cat likes to be in your garden, create a separate garden area that is just for your cat.
To make the garden, plant some catnip and place some sand on the ground so your cat can sleep comfortably.In the area where you don’t want your cat to go, continue to make it inaccessible or undesirable. , If your dog has made a habit of urinating in your garden, you will need to train your dog to urinate in another part of the yard.
When your dog needs to urinate, take it outside on the leash to a spot in the yard away from your garden.
After your dog urinates, immediately reward it.
Take your dog to this same spot each time.
The immediate reward will teach your dog to associate urinating in a certain spot with something good. , If nothing seems to work with keeping your pets out of your garden, consider using commercially available deterrent devices.
For example, install a motion-activated water sprinkler.Anytime your pets go near the garden, they will get sprayed with water.
After getting sprayed a few times, your pets will learn not to enter the garden to urinate.
Other deterrent devices use light or sound to scare pets away. -
Step 3: Grow plants your pets don’t like.
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Step 4: Create a separate garden area for your cat.
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Step 5: Teach your dog where to urinate in the yard.
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Step 6: Use deterrent devices near your garden.
Detailed Guide
Physical barriers will prevent your pets from getting near your outdoor plants.
Examples of barriers are chicken wire fences and wire cages.These materials are available at your local home improvement store.
Talk with the store’s staff for advice on building a fence or cage according to the specific size of your garden.
To build a chicken wire fence, pound metal stakes into the ground and attach the chicken wire to the stakes.A chicken wire fence does not need to be very high.
A fence about two feet (0.6 meters) tall will probably be high enough to keep your pets out of your garden.A wire cage would be useful if you think your pets may climb or jump over the fence.
A fence or cage could be unsightly.
If installing barriers is not practical for you, try different strategies to keep your pets out of your garden.
Making the soil undesirable applies to cats, since they are sensitive to how a surface feels when they urinate or defecate.
The cool, damp soil in your garden feels good to your cat, so you will need to make the soil feel uncomfortable.Below are examples of items you can use:
Chicken wire Rough-textured mulch Prickly pine cones Chop sticks or plant stakes, placed about 8 inches (20 cm) apart Large, flat stones Citrus (lemon, orange) peels , If your pets don’t like the plants in your garden, they probably won’t urinate there.
Examples of plants that cats dislike are rue (blue foliage that has a bad odor), geraniums, and various herbs (such as thyme).Neither cats nor dogs like prickly or thorny plants, such as rose bushes, barberry, and hollies.
If you want to plant a prickly plant, choose one with short thorns that won’t damage your pets’ eyes.The coleus plant has a strong odor that dogs and cats dislike., If your cat likes to be in your garden, create a separate garden area that is just for your cat.
To make the garden, plant some catnip and place some sand on the ground so your cat can sleep comfortably.In the area where you don’t want your cat to go, continue to make it inaccessible or undesirable. , If your dog has made a habit of urinating in your garden, you will need to train your dog to urinate in another part of the yard.
When your dog needs to urinate, take it outside on the leash to a spot in the yard away from your garden.
After your dog urinates, immediately reward it.
Take your dog to this same spot each time.
The immediate reward will teach your dog to associate urinating in a certain spot with something good. , If nothing seems to work with keeping your pets out of your garden, consider using commercially available deterrent devices.
For example, install a motion-activated water sprinkler.Anytime your pets go near the garden, they will get sprayed with water.
After getting sprayed a few times, your pets will learn not to enter the garden to urinate.
Other deterrent devices use light or sound to scare pets away.
About the Author
Julie Chapman
Writer and educator with a focus on practical creative arts knowledge.
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