Every year many homeowners go out of their way to make sure they will have a full lush lawn for the summer. They want to be free of dandelions and be the envy of every neighbor on the block. To get to this point, the lawn will undergo applications of weed killer, pesticides, and fertilizers. These products may seem to make your lawn look good, but what if your lawn inhabitants include pets? Keeping pets safe inside the home is important, but so is protecting their outdoor environment. Most commercially sold lawn care products are highly toxic to cats and dogs. The chemicals found in fertilizers and weed killers contain inert ingredients that will make your pets very sick or even cause death. However, do not bail out on lawn care just yet, there are pet friendly lawn products to keep your lawn looking good, and even more importantly your pets will stay safe.
Pet Friendly Lawn Products – Fertilizer
Most fertilizers sold at your home and garden store will contain ingredients detrimental to your pet’s digestive system. Consider any product you put down on the ground as fair game to your pet’s consumption as dogs will occasionally eat grass or lick their paws outside. Fortunately there are several safe organic ways to fertilizer your yard without using chemicals.
• Kelp or seaweed is a great lawn fertilizer that is high in nutrients. It can be applied to the yard every month and will produce healthy grass growth.
• Organic compounds such as cow manure and worm castings will work wonders.
• Composting of plants and food completely broken down will be very healthy to yard and garden providing nitrogen rich environment for your growing.
Avoid fertilizing with plant material considered unsafe to pets such as mulch consisting of cocoa beans which is harmful to canines. Also avoid using composting ingredients that would involve food scraps that are toxic to canines.
Pet Friendly Lawn Products – Weed Killer
So there are few areas of dandelions and crabgrass making an appearance in your yard. Don’t reach for the commercial weed killer. These products a very toxic as they contain compounds such as carbon tetrachloride and 2,4 D and Chloroform. These chemicals can be very dangerous to your pets when ingested.
The good news is there are other pet safe weed killers on the market or even homemade that will do a great job of getting rid of your weeds. Before you put down a weed preventer, you may want to remove the existing ones first. There are a few pet friendly ways to get rid of weeds:
• Gather friends and family and pull them out one by one. Make sure to pull them entirely by the root system.
• Create a solution of one gallon of boiling water mixed with a half gallon of vinegar and a little clove or lemon oil. Apply this solution to the weeds via spray bottle or dropper directly onto the plant. Applying this solution to the weeds whether dandelion or crabgrass on a warm sunny day will kill the weeds.
Now that the existing weeds are gone, you need to create a toxic free application of weed control. One of the best ways to control future weeds is to apply corn gluten meal. This natural weed killer should be sprinkled over entire lawn once in the spring and in the fall. Corn gluten meal is safe around cats and dogs and can be found at most lawn and garden centers.
Controlling weeds and encouraging healthy lawn growth does not necessarily mean that the homeowner needs to resort to chemical induced quick fixes to healthy lawn care. These commercially made products are not only bad for the pets, but the environment and your finances. Protect mother earth and re-use your existing household products for composting as well as considering pet safe products such as corn gluten meal to control weeds.
