Animal Friendly Gardens

To make your garden animal friendly, whether it be a vegetable garden or a flower garden, there are three main steps.

Firstly, you need to plan where to place the garden. It will have to be a sunny place that gets at least 4-5 hours of sun. A southern or western exposure would be best. he smiled as if there were still hope and suggested a southern or western exposure. If your garden is north or east facing, plant crops like carrots, broccoli or leafy vegetables or perennials or shrubs. Make sure it has a water source and is level with the ground, for open access.

Secondly, you need to get the soil ready. Soil amendments are especially important, since vegetables need nutrients to grow. There are many different types of soil amendments. Store-bought amendments often include animal manure (these are the nutrients), such as cow or sheep manure. They are typically blended with peat moss (which is not a nutrient), which acts as an aerator, breaking down soils so that water, food, and air can get to the plants’ roots. There are several reasons to avoid animal manure. You can never be sure of the treatment of the animals who produced the product, and no one wants to include cruelty in their animal-friendly garden. Besides this, animal manures must be aged for at least six months, or they are considered “hot”. If they’re “hot,” they contain too much salt and will burn the roots.
Another store-bought amendment to avoid is fish emulsions. Many dogs are attracted to the scent and dig up the garden. Also, a nice reminder if you use any fertilizer with a potent odor: Be sure to monitor your dog when they relieve themselves or to fence off the new garden until the odor subsides.

Rather than using animal manures, you can create your own “cow and peat” by adding any organic material, such as nondiseased leaves, which will act as a peat moss. Compost is another great soil amendment, and it can be created in your backyard! Year-round composting is also great for your garden in spring. You can actually continue composting throughout the winter, despite the colder temperatures, although it slows down the decomposition process. Also, if you have a compost bin or an area in your yard for composting, be sure to fence it off so that your dog cannot get into it!

Thirdly, you have to choose proper edging for your garden. Although edging can be done at anytime of the year when the ground is not frozen, it's easiest to do it in the warmer months. Edging is used to create transitions in the yard and define garden borders. For example, it prevents the migration of wood mulch into sod and prevents sod from migrating into your garden with wood mulch. The problem is, edging can also be a hidden knife in your garden and can cause great harm to your animals if you do not choose the right kind.

Common steel edging is usually sold in 10-foot strips at either a 14 or 16 gage with edging pins. Normally, 16 gage is used in gardens, and 14 gage is used for flagstone walkways, patios, etc. There are many different types of edging–steel with “safety caps,” roll top, weeping, coloredge, plastic, timbers, patio edging, strip stone, scallop edging, or even bricks from your garage.
All these are safe for dogs except steel edging! The safety caps do not protect animals nor humans from lacerations. Steel edging is like having a knife in your yard. The plastic safety caps pop off, since they do not weather well in any climate. Another problem with steel edging is that many people do not know how to install the caps. In fact, many dog guardians do not realize the dangers of unsafe edging and end up in the veterinary emergency room mystified about how their dog cut himself on “something” in the backyard. Edging is almost always the culprit.
Edging is necessary, just do not use any type of steel edging. Or better yet, visit any landscape bulk-material store that carries edging and look for types that do not have a sharp edge. Carefully run your hand along the top of it to feel its sharpness, and if you feel any hint of a sharp edge, do not use it.

Once you’ve chosen an animal-friendly edging, you must outline your proposed garden to determine its shape. You can outline the area with either a garden hose or flour (both are non-toxic and won’t harm your animal companions). Then just install your safe edging along these lines.

Then use animal friendly plants and you're safe and ready to go. :)

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