Puppy Friendly Gardens

[Juanita613]

Me and my mate Maurice share an equal love for cala lillies. Unfortunelty he perfers them in his paws and not in my garden. Note the large patch of baron dirt and guilty pup.

While I've had a little luck with some ginger & herbs like basil and parsley (and of course the weeds), every other thing I plant seems to be dragged out from the back yard and into my living room. 

Does anybody have any advice as to how to keep dogs away from the garden bed, or better yet, flowers and foliage that they dont feel a need to rip out?

Thanks!!

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @Juanita613 and thanks for sharing.

Maurice looks adorable! I find dogs are even cuter when they know they have been naughty. It's so hard to stay mad at them! My dog Humphrey also loves to dig, but he's fortunately not as descructive in his old age. 

I hope you get some great suggestions from the community for your problem.

Jason

[greygardener]

I would spray him with a little water bottle every time he goes near the plants and deliver a firm "no". 

[Darren]

Hi @Juanita613 after our 1 year old labrador, Sidney, reduced a six foot Japanese maple to a 30 cm stick in a pot, I now surround any new plants with steel gutter guard (it's cheaper than chicken wire). It may not be the most attractive solution, but Sid hasn't been able to chew any of my new plants, yet.

[Traumboot]

Hey I've a new puppy and she's starting to dig in the garden. Any thoughts on how to stop the puppy digging in the garden?

[Jason]

@Traumboot

Welcome to the Workshop community. I hope you find it a really valuable place to learn and meet lots of like-minded people. We're looking forward to hearing about what you have built and grown.

I've combined your question with an existing discussion. It seems naughty dogs are a common problem! I hope other community members can share some suggestions with you.

Jason 

[greenthumbfail]

Hey - we had the same problem when we moved into our new place. Here's the best article we found. We set up a digging area and our kelpie, Max loved it! Still a bit of digging, but at least we've confined it to a space away from the gareden  

Good luck

[greygardener]

I would try spraying any plants that you don't want your dog to touch with something natural but spicy, like chilli oil. I've also heard of people making mixtures like powdered mustard and crushed dried peppers and putting that around any garden beds that they don't want the dog to enter.

[Kermit]

There's a new product coming out soon called Garden Sentinel which is like a motion activated sprinkler. It basically fires a three-second stream of water to keep unwanted animals out of gardens. You can adjust the sensitivity, range, angle etc. 

[Goldmember]

That would be funny for dogs that love playing with water - in fact you might end up attracting half the neighbourhood's puppies over to your place for a pool party.