Hey guys! I’m in a townhome and we wanted to enhance our Dog potty area. Currently we have pet turf laid down and I do regularly clean it with Pet safe spray and those odor removal heads but it stills stinks.
We wanted to replace it and plant some sort of grass that may be able to get rid of the smell. Any feedback?
We’re also considering shrinking the potential size of the area.
by Accomplished-Big9036
4 Comments
It really depends. Do you rent or own the townhouse?
This is such a small area that you could put down new sod every year.
It will always smell, whether its grass or turf. Your better off walking it to a field to do its business, and leave your patch for late night/middle of the night bathroom breaks.
Add some fragrant plants in planters or just outside the fence. I went to a dog park that was lined with lilac shrubs and it was great at covering the smell. Not sure where you’re located so it’s hard to recommend specific options.
Regarding the potty area itself, the issue with putting any sort of plant in that area is that dog urine is basically concentrated nitrogen. In low quantities, it can act as a fertilizer, boosting growth, but in very high quantities (as will be the case from your dogs using this one small spot every day) it kills the plants. So you’re not going to have much success.
I suspect part of the reason for the smell is that the plastic turf is not very permeable nor does it encourage microbial activity to break down the urine. It also likely gets hot back there in the sun, especially surrounded by all that stonework.
If your dogs will tolerate going on mulch, that is more permeable than plastic turf and can encourage microbial activity.
Adding plants to shade the area will decrease heat retention and thus smell. You could do vines with trellises or add some trees. Either of these could work in containers as long as you keep up with watering and pruning as needed. Or do a shade cloth sail if you don’t have the option to plant things.