Dog urine kills grass | Protect your lawn from urine stains! (2023)

A beautiful lawn is like an extension of your living room. It's a great place for the family to hang out, relax, eat and play all summer long. And if your family has pets, they'll love it too. But if you have a pet in the family, you may encounter an unfortunate side effect of your dog's love of the lawn: urine stains.

As any lawn lover knows, dog urine can leave unsightly burn marks on your lawn. So what can you do to prevent dog urine stains on your lawn? The good news is that it's not useless. You mayProtect your lawn and prevent dog urine stains.with a few simple steps

What causes dog urine stains?

There are many myths about dog urine and its effects on your lawn. We'll debunk some of these myths in a moment. But first we need to talk about the causes of these spots in the first place. Many people hear grass experts refer to dog urine as "burned" grass and assume they are referring to the pH. It's actually something much simpler.

Dog urine contains a lot of nitrogen.🇧🇷 While nitrogen is generally good for your lawn—it's the main ingredient in most fertilizers—too good can be bad for your lawn. Concentrated nitrogen can "burn" and kill grass. However, this nitrogen overload also helps explain the prominent appearance of burn marks in the dog's urine.

Urine stains usually start out as dark green spots. This intense green color is the result of highly fertilized grass. Eventually, especially if your dog keeps urinating in the same spot, you might end up with a patch of dead grass surrounded by a dark green ring. The dead spot is where the high nitrogen concentration killed the grass, and the dark ring is where the urine is less concentrated and the grass is growing vigorously.

In addition to too much nitrogen, another cause of dog urine stains is the high salt content in your dog's urine. The salts dry out the grass and the plant dries up so much that it dies. When this happens, you'll notice yellow or brown patches of dead grass on your lawn. Even so, you can still see a green ring around the site. There the salt concentration was lower and nitrogen increased growth.

Dealing with dog urine stains

There are two ways to deal with dog urine stains. Essentially, it can prevent or treat blemishes. To avoid them, you need to change your cultural practices and your dog's behavior. If the stains are already there, treating them is like recovering from damage to your lawn.

avoid stains

You must get to the root of the problem to avoid dog urine stains. The cause of the spots is an overload of nitrogen and salts in the urine. To avoid damage, you must disperse and dilute nitrogen and salts. Fortunately this is not difficult.

Rinse the area where your dog just urinated to minimize the effects of the urine as the harmful compounds will be washed away. In the most extreme sense, this could mean following your dog outside while you go about your business. After the dog has eliminated, rinse the area with plenty of water. Alternatively, you can ensure your grass is watered regularly to remove stains. Generally, we recommend deep watering on a longer schedule. But more frequent shallow watering can help prevent nitrogen and salt overload when dealing with dog urine stains.

If you have a smaller dog, there may not be enough urine to kill the grass. Instead, your lawn problem may simply be an unsightly mosaic of dark green dots. If that's the case, you can try to fade the spots by fertilizing the entire lawn well. The spots will not be visible if the entire lawn is dark green.

Another way to avoid stains is to teach your dog to walk in a secluded spot on the lawn or in an inconspicuous area of ​​the lawn. Several products can help. For example, some pet stores sell pheromone-infused pens to attract dogs and make them urinate on themselves. Basic dog training is also possible. Put a leash on the dog to relieve itself in its preferred spot, then reward it with verbal praise and treats. After a few weeks, your dog may come to this location to relieve himself, even without a leash.

treat stains

If you already have dog urine dead spots, it's too late to use preventative methods. Instead, you must deal damage and repair dead spots. Dealing with dead spots in your yard is pretty much the same regardless of the cause.

The first thing to do when fixing a dead spot is to remove the dead grass. Use a metal hook to lift and remove dead grass. After the grass is gone, it's time to treat the soil. Since the grass has died from too much nitrogen and concentrated salts, it's a good idea to rinse the area with water to clear the soil. After that, you have three options for fixing the lawn.

The first way to fill empty space is to plant new seeds. Use the same seed you used for the rest of the lawn and follow the instructions that came with the seed. Be sure to water abundantly and keep this part of the lawn outside until the grass is established. The second option is to put new grass in the dead area. Be sure to start with healthy soil, then lay the lawn. Again, stay away from new grass until it is well established. If the spot is not very large, the third option is to wait for the grass to fill in the dead spot with new growth. Bermuda grass and zoysia grass are creeping grasses, meaning they are propagated by aerial stems called stolons and underground stems called rhizomes. Both types of grass can fill in small areas relatively quickly without major interventions.

Start with strong grass

A healthy lawn is better able to withstand any pest, even if it's its fluffy pup. So starting with a hardy type of grass and keeping it well watered and fertilized can go a long way in controlling dog urine stains.

Zoysia is a dense herbthis is good against additional dog paw traffic and urine. It is durable and does not require as much water as other types of grass. Also, while dog urine isn't completely "urine stain resistant," it won't kill your lawn. Zoysia grass will be back.

the end result

If you have a dog, you may have to deal with urine stains on your lawn. However, it is not inevitable. You can train your dog to eliminate in a specific location, minimizing damage to your lawn. Adult men are generally less likely to get rashes because they don't normally urinate in a concentrated container. Instead, they'll roam your yard and mark their territory with bursts of urine. But whether you have a puppy, an older dog, or a female dog, chances are you have at least some problems with urine stains. Fortunately, they are treatable. And remember, as much as you love your lawn, your dog is an important part of your family and won't be around forever. Sometimes the best way to deal with dog urine stains is to take a step back and look at your priorities. Grass can be repaired. Work with your dog to reduce the pimples, but remember the value of your relationship with your pet.

As we often emphasize, the healthiest grass is the one that best handles stress and recovers from minor damage. Starting with quality grass from The Turfgrass Group is the best thing you can do for your lawn. Try one of our varieties. You mayFind a certified local producer here.