Planting Schemes for Gardens with Pets
This section looks specifically at pet-appropriate and beneficial plants.
For information and ideas on pet-friendly garden design and layout, take a look at the design section of this site.
Your main priority when choosing plants for your garden should be to ensure that none of them pose a threat to the health and safety of your pet.
We have included a list of plants that may harm your pet on this site.
We have also provided an extensive list of pet-friendly plants that you should be able to plant safely in your garden.
PLANTS TO AVOID
Some garden plants may pose a particular risk for certain species of pet.
Lilies, for instance, are particularly poisonous to cats.
Even a small amount of lily pollen can make a cat seriously ill,
and cat owners would be wise to avoid planting lilies in areas frequented by their cats.
If you have a cat in your house you should also be very careful if you have bouquets of lilies indoors.
Make sure if you do have lilies in the house that they are displayed well out of the way of your cat.
Many dogs are particularly fond of chewing on sticks and branches, especially as young puppies while they cut their new teeth.
You must make sure that your dog does not chew on poisonous wood such as laburnum, yew, wild cherry or box.
Other hazardous parts of plants that dogs often chew on include horse chestnuts, ivy tendrils and toxic bulbs.
Bored dogs may take interest in climbing plants.
Many of these are toxic, including wisteria, ivy, grape vines and many clematis species.
Dogs looking for entertainment may find it in pulling at climbing plants in a 'tug-of-war' game.
They may do the same with tree roots which can also be toxic.
If you have dog run in your garden,
make sure there are no toxic plants growing within reach of your dog when it is inside the run.
Although it may seem like a good idea to grow pretty climbing plants up the side of your dog run,
your dog is very likely to find fun pulling and chewing on any plants it can reach when left alone and bored.
Also beware of toxic plants growing near rabbit and guinea pig hutches and enclosures.
Avoid plants with thorns and spines.
These can cause serious eye injuries in pets.
Many thorn-less rose varieties are available for those who wish to grow roses in gardens with pets
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES TO AVOID IN GARDENS WITH PETS
Fruit trees feature in many gardens.
Although the produce of some can be a useful and healthy addition to the diets of your pet as well as you and your family,
there are parts of many common fruit trees that are toxic to pets.
Apples and pears, as well as stone fruit such as cherries, plums, nectarines and peaches,
all contain toxins in the stones or seeds, and skin of their fruit.
These trees are all listed by the ASPCA as being Toxic to cats and dogs.
Many dogs especially will scavenge fallen fruit, and ingesting large amounts may be detrimental to their health.
Wasps and other stinging insects are often found feeding on fallen fruit,
and pets that eat such fruit are prone to being stung.
This can be especially serious if they are stung in the mouth or throat as their airways may become restricted.
Grape vines are another potential hazard to dogs.
Grapes contain an unknown toxin which attacks the kidneys of dogs,
and eating even a small amount of grapes may lead to kidney failure.
The fruit, wood and foliage of the Avocado Tree are also toxic to pets.
PET FRIENDLY PLANTS
There are many interesting and colorful plants that are safe to plant in gardens with pets in them. Many are more than simply pleasing to the eye; some can also be beneficial to the health of you and your pet, or a useful addition to your diets.
GARDEN PLANTS FOR CATS
GRASS
Cats like to eat grass.
They do this for a variety of reasons: to dislodge hairballs;
to soothe digestive discomfort; to increase roughage and possibly for the nutritional content.
Eating grass is fine, so long as they only eat grass from their owner's gardens where it is safe to do so.
It is not so good when they venture into other gardens where they may eat grass that has been sprayed with weed killers,
pesticides, lawn feed or other toxic chemicals.
Providing your cat with its own tray of grass is a good idea.
You can purchase ready-made trays of 'Cat-Grass' from pet stores or online retailers - through Amazon for example.
These are usually wheat or oat grass, and can be bought 'ready-grown' or in grow-it-yourself kits.
You can very easily make your own cat-grass tray, and may find it more satisfying to choose your own planter to suit your tastes.
Just make sure you use a tray-style container so the grass is easily accessible for your cat to graze on.
CATNIP
Catnip is a member of the mint family.
It contains a chemical called 'Nepetalactone'. This substance drives most cats crazy.
They find great pleasure in rolling around in or rubbing themselves against catnip plants.
Contact with the plant crushes the leaves and causes vapors to be released.
It is mainly through inhalation of these vapors that the cats are affected by the plant, although they may also eat the foliage.
Catnip is said to produces mild hallucinogenic effects in cats, and obviously makes them quite happy!
Providing your cat with a catnip plant is a good way to encourage it to stay within the boundaries of your garden.
Aside from the pleasure that a supply of catnip will bring to your cat,
it can be highly entertaining or owners to observe their cat's behavior after they have had a good roll around in a catnip plant!
Like most plants, catnip grows stronger and bushier if you pinch out the tips of the shoots from time to time while you are growing it.
The shoots you pink out can be dried and used to stuff toys for your cat to enjoy indoors.
Catnip can often grow very vigorously, and if you do not want it to spread too much you can contain it
by planting it in a pot buried in the ground.
This is probably preferable to growing catnip in a free-standing container,
as this way your cat will still be able to roll around in the plant.
Cats also seem to appreciate other strongly scented herbs such as mint and thyme.
You might want to plant these in containers around your cat's preferred sunbathing spots on patio or deck areas.
You can also use such herbs in your kitchen -
remember if you have a male dog to make sure they don't urinate on plant pots used to grow herbs for cooking.
GARDEN PLANTS FOR DOGS
Gardens with dogs in them usually face some increase in wear and tear.
We have discussed several strategies to protect your plants from damage caused by dogs in the
design pages of this site.
You can provide plants with increased protection from dogs by growing them in raised beds or containers.
Hanging baskets and wall-mounted planters are especially useful for gardens with dogs.
Another suggestion for gardens with dogs is to plant resilient plant species that
will withstand you dog occasionally running through them.
Lavenders, heathers and cotoneasters all provide good groundcover and are usually pretty tolerant of dogs crashing about in them.
These plants are very useful for planting at the front of borders and along the sides of pathways where
plants are more vulnerable to being trampled.
Lavender also has the added bonus of making your dog smell nice if he or she runs about in it!
Dense planting in borders tends to dissuade dogs from entering them.
The visual effect of a 'solid barrier' of plants will more often than not redirect
your dog away from flower beds and towards other more open areas.
GROWING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES IN GARDENS WITH PETS
As mentioned above, some commonly grown fruit and vegetable plants can cause problems if eaten by your pet. There are many others that are not harmful - some are in fact particularly beneficial for your pet. If you are growing fruit and vegetables in areas of the garden that your pet has access to, you may find that your pet eats them before you get a chance to! Dogs in particular may scavenge fruits such as strawberries and blueberries, and dig up vegetables such as carrots. Although these are all healthy snacks for your dog, you may want to grow them in areas where pet access is restricted.
A simple low fence around your vegetable patch may be enough to deter your dog from entering the area.
Alternatively, you can try growing vegetables in raised beds.
Certain plants may fare better than others if there are dogs around.
Squash and other hard-skinned vegetables and fruit are generally of little interest to dogs.
Their protective outer skins also mean that it is much less of an issue if your or cat pees on them,
as the skin will protect the flesh and can be washed and removed before cooking.
As an alternative, many fruits and vegetables grow very well in containers,
which can be placed out of reach of your pet.
Strawberries are an ideal plant to grow in hanging baskets or window boxes.
You can buy specially designed hanging strawberry planters to get you started.
Fruit bushes such as blueberries, currants and gooseberries grow well in pots.
If you have a male dog that may use containers a marking posts, choose tall pots out of range of your dog's pee.
For more information on garden layout and design, take a look at the design pages of our site.