6 Pet-Friendly Landscaping Tips to Keep in Mind in Dublin and Lewis Center, OH

Your pets are part of the family and you want to keep them in mind when planning a Dublin and Lewis Center, OH, landscape refresh. Here are some pet-friendly landscaping tips to keep in mind when discussing your project with a landscape professional.

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Pet Friendly Landscape Ideas

While you certainly want to have an attractive yard, providing spaces for your pets to enjoy time there can prove beneficial to everyone. Chances are good that your pet will ruin the careful landscape design unless you take their needs into account, too.

Make Water Accessible: When you have a water-loving dog or cat, incorporating a water feature for them makes good sense. This can be a water fountain that spills onto a shallow well area where they can drink from the fountain or run through the water to cool down. Another idea can be a shallow gazing pool that also provides water for your pet to cool off on a warm day.

Shade and Shelter: All pets need shade and shelter from the elements even if they only spend a small amount of time outside in the backyard. Situating a dog or cat house beneath a large, leafy tree can be essential to keeping your pet from overheating. You might want to have this encircled with a fenced area where you can keep your pet for events when you need to get them out of the house.

Fencing: When you don’t want a tall wood fence, have your landscaper install a fence with capped wood posts. By using steel wide mesh fencing between the posts, your landscape still looks attractive and the fence lets the breezes through. Keeping your pets safe with a fence can be good common sense but the fence can be beautiful, too.

Know Your Plants: Not all plants and shrubs are safe for your pets to be near in the landscape. Make sure that your landscaper has a thorough knowledge of all trees, shrubs, and plants that are part of your new landscape plan. Verify that research has been done to ensure a safe place for your pets to roam the yard without danger of poisoning from an unknown plant.

Automated Treat Dispenser: If your pet is not one who wants to stay outside, you could encourage more time outside in the yard with an automated treat dispenser. This would function in a similar way to a treat dispenser that spits out treats in the house while you are away but it placed outside. Those random treats can encourage your pets to stay outdoors in the fresh air longer since they never know when a treat might come.

Create Pathways: Dogs especially seem to travel the same paths over and over in the yard so plan to transform those pathways into actual walkways or gravel paths. This can keep your landscape looking clean and minimize dirt paths while providing a tried-and-true pathway for your dogs to travel.

Make sure your landscaper selects a material that stays cool on the hottest days to protect your pets’ feet. Some options can be gravel, pavers, fine rubber mulch, or traditional mulch.

When you begin the process of designing a new yard, be sure to let your landscape professional know that you want to incorporate spaces for your pets, too.

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