Stains Of Urine On Grass- How Can They Be Removed?
Written by Sam Goodman   
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Are there ugly brownish spots of dead grass that is spoiling the splendor of your lawns? The culprit might be your furry canine friend.
by SamGoodman


Are there ugly brownish spots of dead grass that is spoiling the splendor of your lawns? The culprit might be your furry canine friend.

Dog urine can take its toll on your green grass. The unsightly lawn burn spots are brought about by the high nitrogen content seen in dog urine. Each time the dog urinates on the grass, he or she adds a large dose of nitrogen to the soil. This is equivalent to pouring liquid fertilizer on the yard. When small quantities of fertilizer could be useful, large quantities of urine can lead to nitrogen burns.

If you fertilize your lawn, the grass is already getting high levels of nitrogen. Add dog urine and you have the perfect situation for lawn burn. While lawn burn is ugly, it does not mean that your pet has a health problem. Lawn burn from canine urination is common.

It has been said that feminine dogs add more to lawn burn than do male dogs. This may be true, but it is not due to physical differences. Females squat to urinate, hence saturating more soil area. Males tend to lift their leg and pass urine on things to mark their territory. Thus, male dogs tend to spread their urine around the yard.

Large breed dogs produce more urine as they drink a great deal more than small breeds. In turn, they discharge more concentrated nitrogen onto the yard.

It is deemed that dogs that eat a high protein diet cause more lawn burn. The reason for this is that higher levels of protein cause the body to expel more nitrogen. There are drugs and food supplements that can help reduce nitrogen levels in your dog's urine, but there could be repulsive side effects. Discuss the situation with your dog's vet.

One among the simplest things to do to reduce lawn burn is to rinse the urine off of the grass. Keep a hosepipe or bucket of water handy. If you clean the area in which the dog has passed urine within a couple of hours, the possibilities are good that lawn damage will be prevented as the water dilutes the nitrogen. The diluted nitrogen in fact works as lawn fertilizer.

If you have a large lawn where water is not readily available, try training the dog to urinate in a particular area where you can perform a wash down or put up with the effect of nitrogen burn. Pick out a place that is not as noticeable as the middle of your yard. Another option is to designate a potty area and make use of stone or gravel rather than grass. Some people have successfully used concrete blocks in the place of grass.

If you already have spots of nitrogen burn, you can even try re-seeding the grass. It is very important to irrigate the area well prior to and after re-seeding.

The grass killed by nitrogen burns will at times come back on its own once no further urine is added to the soil. This does take a while and there is no guarantee that it will work.

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