Gardening is a therapeutic experience for many people. The reward is that you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor, as your beautiful blooms decorate your landscape. But what if you have a dog that enjoys digging up your flower bed as much as you enjoyed planting it? Let’s take a look at several different ways that you can keep your dog out of your flower bed or veggie garden this summer.
#1: Set up an Underground Pet Fence
Are you familiar with underground dog fences? Not only are they perfect solutions for keeping your dog inside of your yard, they are also great for keeping your dog from digging inside of your flower bed or garden. Here is how they work.
Your dog wears a special collar. When he or she approaches the invisible boundary, they will receive a mild, static correction, that feels similar to running across the carpet in your socks and then touching a doorknob. That is enough to discourage your dog from rummaging through your flower bed.
#2: Build a Decorative Border
If your goal is to keep your dogs out of your flower bed, but do it with class, why not erect a cute, low white picket fence around them? If it matches the aesthetics of your home, why not? Sure, you could always use chicken wire for a border, if you prefer.
#3: Spice Things Up
When a dog gets a whiff of something spicy, it is sure to send them running in the other direction. Try sprinkling equal parts of crushed red pepper flakes and mustard powder around the area you want them to avoid. Another thing that you can do is to ward them off with the strong smell of vinegar and ammonia. Try pouring one or the other into coffee filters and placing them around the border of your flower or garden bed.
#4: Create a Dig Pit
Many breeds of dogs just have it in their nature to dig. Sure, you don’t want them to dig in your garden, but perhaps you could let them dig in another less conspicuous spot on your property. Giving your dog their own dig pit may be a big help to keeping him from digging in your flower bed.
#5 Give Your Dog Other Things to Do
If you have plenty of toys laying around your yard, your dog is far less likely to begin digging in your flower bed because he is bored. Have a food-filled Kong toy and be at the ready with a nice frisbee to provide a distraction.
#6: Use Water to Keep Your Dog Out
If you have a sprinkler system, there are motion activated sprinklers on the market. So of course, when your dog approaches your flower bed, he gets a blast of water! This is a simple, and likely humorous way to get your dog running in the other direction.
#7: Keep It Prickly
Logically, dogs don’t like to get poked. When you trim your rose bushes, save the thorny clippings and strew them about on the ground near your flowers. Also consider growing thorny bushes such as blackberry or holly bushes and lay pieces of the branches on the ground so that the dog is discouraged from stepping there.
#8: Create a “Moat”
In front of your garden or flower bed, you can create a barrier that is similar to a trench or moat. Fill this trench gravel or mulch. Pine cones are another option. The idea is to choose a material that the dog will dislike the feeling of against their paws.
So that’s it! Just try a few of these and you should be successful in getting your dog to understand that your flower bed is not his personal sandbox.
