Golden Rules of dog-friendly gardening

Creating a garden which satisfi es the requirements of both you and your dog is largely a matter of observing a few
common sense guidelines:

● Your dog always takes priority. When making any changes in the garden, consider how they will affect your dog;
don’t site things or incorporate features which may present a hazard or will severely limit his activities — remember, it’s his space too! If you decide to really go to town and give your garden a complete makeover, design not just with the here-and-now in mind, but the future as well so yourdog will be safe and able to enjoy being out there just as much as he grows older.

● Your garden should do what you want it to do — so don’t be bound by convention. Feel free to add features you like or which your dog enjoys, even if it isn’t standard gardening practice; for example as well as my shaggy lawn edges, I have a few slightly wilder areas where I allow couch grass and cleavers to do their own thing.

I have even been known to cultivate pots of cleavers to extend their growing season! It makes one of my more purist gardening friends blench whenever she sees it, but as I point out, my current doggy companions, Archie and Angel, love to nibble on cleavers — and I garden for their benefi t as much as mine.