Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
somepeabody1

Help needed with dog friendly plants for small space

peabody1
18 years ago

Here in Florida we have an enclosed patio area which has a small area for planting. It has pea-gravel for mulch. It is only 18" wide for the most part, but gets bigger on the ends. I need to replace a plant in the 18" part that didn't survive there. I am looking for dog friendly plants because we have this area so our dogs can go to the bathroom there while we are gone. They like to stick their heads in the plants and sniff for lizards and frogs and they like to chew the leaves of some plants when they don't feel well --- so the plants would need to be non-poisonous and able to stand up to our dogs sniffing around in the plant. Any suggestions for this small space?

Comments (4)

  • sissyz
    18 years ago

    I guess I don't understand, you mean the dogs pee on the plant?
    And they eat it?? What in the world did you have there before the stood up to all that?!!
    Those are pretty harsh factors, I can see how the other one died...

  • K
    18 years ago

    As I understand it, you want something to decorate the place a little and make it not so barren, but that would also give some interest for the dogs? (Sissy, I think Peabody meant the dogs use the area, not the plant, as the bathroom.)

    Anyway, I'm usually wishing I had plant-friendly dogs, not dog-friendly plants...

    You could put liriope in the 18-inch bed. That will shelter a lot of small animals. Liriope does well in shade or sun. I don't know that my dogs have ever eaten it, though. The thing they most like to eat, other than plants I don't want them to eat, is plain old grass. And it always comes back. Maybe a heavy, low-to-the-ground (so they won't knock it over) planter of grass. The planter would make it easy to keep under control. You'd have to get the kind of grass that would grow in the conditions there - sun or shade - you haven't stated which.

    Good luck.

    K.

  • peabody1
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    I just bought a Hibiscus which they assured me at the store was not poisonous to dogs. Well, the websites say differently. I guess I'll mark that one off the list.

    Yes, the one dog does pee on the plants. You know how males are. I have two Tibouchina urvilleana (princess flowers) and Indian Hawthorne. These plants are very hardy and safe when it comes to dogs. The one dog pees on these plants and both dogs chew the leaves of Princess Flower and pick the berries on the Indian Hawthorne.

    Wish I could find something else to put out there that would stand up to being peed on and chewed on.

  • K
    18 years ago

    Oh, right. I forgot. My dogs are female.
    I'm surprised to hear that hibiscus is poisonous to dogs! The flowers can be eaten by people. Don't know about the leaves though.
    What about barberry? It comes in a variety of colors. Don't know if it's poisonous though. I think it has just been found to have some beneficial properties for humans - alternative medicine and all that. But because of the thorns, I would think your dogs would leave it alone. Mine do.
    K.

Sponsored
Ed Ball Landscape Architecture
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars30 Reviews
Exquisite Landscape Architecture & Design - “Best of Houzz" Winner