Pet-friendly rental homes are, in fact, a growing segment of the De Beque single-family rental home market. Many renters want or already have a pet, and this has prompted many property owners to allow them under certain conditions. Most pet-friendly rentals do include a lawn that is designed with a pet’s safety in mind. But it’s true that some pets, like dogs, may use that lawn as a waste area, which can thus create unsightly brown spots in an otherwise healthy expanse of green. So to help prevent pet urine spots from spoiling your rental home’s lawn, use one or a number of the following strategies recommended by lawn care experts.
The reason that dog urine causes grass to turn brown is that it consists of a lot of nitrogen. In small amounts, nitrogen is good for your lawn. But then, too much in one spot may kill the grass, which leads to brown patches in the yard. Once your dog tends to urinate in the same places every time, one thing you must do is avoid putting nitrogen-rich fertilizer in those spots. You can be damaging the lawn more with your fertilizer if it has nitrogen in it, so be alert to either choose a nitrogen-free fertilizer or don’t apply fertilizer to the pet urine spots.
One efficient yet simple strategy is to rinse the lawn whenever your dog urinates on it. This is so much easier when your dog tends to go on the same place all the time. But even when that is not the situation, spraying the lawn with water helps dilute the urine and prevent it from burning the grass.
In the same way, some dog owners have found success by way of encouraging their pets to drink more water or by simply giving them supplements designed to neutralize the nitrogen in their urine. The notion behind the first approach is to dilute your dog’s urine by giving them more water. Despite that this is effective with various dogs, remember that it’s equally 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 thought to bind with the nitrogen in your dog’s urine, turning it into something less harmful for the grass.
As a final point, many 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 places in the yard that do not have grass, you must train your dog to urinate there. This approach makes sense in situations where your dog is receptive to consistent training. You could as well 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 can thus encourage a healthy lawn resistant to brown spots. But, in actuality, even careful tending and daily watering aren’t quite enough to prevent them. Through using one or several 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 970-314-7123 for a consultation.
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