We recently purchased a puppy and in the course of housebreaking her she would urinate in one spot when we took her outside. I now have brown grass in the spot she used (she no longer uses one spot and we take her out of the yard as well). Is there anything I can use/someone can recommend that will turn this back to green grass?

Thank you

Jim

 

Hello Jim and Welcome to DoItYourself.com

Urine burn is generally irreversible to the turf plants affected, but you can just add a bit of horticultural grade granulated lime (a quarter teaspoon or so) - or some ground up drywall {gypsum} to the spot to counteract the acidity, then scratch up the dead grass and the soil a bit, put down some seed, cover lightly with soil and if you keep it well watered, it sould come back fine.

I keep a big bag of Perennial Ryegrass seed and a left-over quarter sheet of drywall just for this purpose - constantly patching the turf where Blue has pee'd. It's kinda like playing tag in slow motion...

It does help a bit if you can water the spot where she pee's right after she does it - that dilutes the urine and decreases it's effect. THAT'D be tag in real time!!! Keeping your lawn well watered does seem to have some effect, also. The browning/dieing seem to be quicker and more pronounced in drought stricken turf...

Hope this helps a bit

Give the little one a pat on the head and a treat for us all here on this board!

Howie

 

Another remedy is to sprinkle some sugar on the burned grass.

Newt

 

Hi Newt,

Is it sugar water you use? I have not heard this before so I would like to know how you use the sugar.

Marturo

 

Yup, sugar. Just sprinkle it on like you're doing it on cereal. You can also sprinkle on some compost as well with the sugar. Don't forget to water it. It will green up the burnt grass.

Here's a conversation you should find interesting.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...003114833.html

I also forgot to mention that what you feed your dog will also be helpful. The idea of putting a couple of tablespoons of tomato juice on their food has been floating around for a while. It is NOT a good idea. Too much salt for the dog and it makes them drink more water. The water is supposed to help dilute the urine. Best to feed a low protein dry dog food and add water to it. That's what I've done and it's helped a bit. Here's a site that might be helpful.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=1493

Good luck,
Newt

 

Thanks for the tip and links Newt.

I have been using a handful of Sugar on top of my compost piles when I toss them.

For years I have seen a decrease in the time it takes my compost to finish cooking. I have always looked at the fact that bactieria likes the sugar, and must grow faster because of it.

Marturo

 

Thank you for your reply's. I have placed th esugar on the spot's and will update you in about a week or two.

Jim