[nagdu] Fw: Saving your grass

[John Doering]

Hello,
For those who are interested, below is a response from the plant doctor regarding my question about dog urine and grass.

Regards,
JD

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mike Maier 
To: John Doering 
Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 6:11 AM
Subject: Re: Saving your grass


      Hi John,
      I wish I had better news for you. 
      As far as I know, there are no good cures for dogs spots, other then immediately flushing the area with a ton of water to diffuse it. A few minutes is all it takes for the urine to attach itself to the soil.  Baking soda will do no good nor will lime or anything else to change the pH of the soil. All these remedies are based on the presumption that the acidity in the urine is what is doing the damage to your grass.  While it is actually over fertilizing the areas, this is why they turn dark green before dying out on you. Dog urine has a high concentration of nitrogen. Females are usually the worst not because they have a higher concentration but only rather due to the fact that they squat and their urine is condensed into a smaller area.
      There is a type of grass which you can plant that is being marketed for "dog" lawns. However it is mainly made up of Winter Rye which is a very large bladed rough grass. You will see this growing along side of highways quite often. It is not a good "lawn' type of a seed, however it is a port in a storm.  Your best bet if you are not willing to follow your dog around with a hose to drench the spot after they pee, is just to tie your dog to one specific area and write it off.
      I really do wish I had better news for you. If someone comes out with a product that can neutralize the nitrogen in the urine they will become very rich overnight because you are certainly not alone. This is probably the most common question asked on my show, and seconded only to ways of getting rid of moles, has the most old wives tales or gimmicks to solve the problem associated with it. 

      I wish you luck and please feel free to write back with any other plant related questions. Even though you are in Milwaukee you can listen to the show live on Saturday mornings or pod casts of past shows by going to:
      http://1410wizm.com/  and following the links.



      Mike Maier aka The Plant Doc




       

      --- On Thu, 6/16/11, John Doering <doering at ameritech.net> wrote:


        From: John Doering <doering at ameritech.net>
        Subject: Saving your grass
        To: theplantdoc2003 at yahoo.com
        Date: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 5:27 PM


        Hello,
        I was given your address to possibly get suggestions for a problem.  
        Do you have any suggestions on keeping your grass from dying from the urine from your dogs?  I have been told to add baking soda to the dogs water and just started that.  Even if you could suggest any types of grass that may fair better against this problem, would be appreciated.

        Thank you,
        John

        John & Annette Doering
        Auggie LDB,
        Charlie Brown LDB Retired,
        & Murphy
        Milwaukee, WI U.S.A.
        doering at ameritech.net