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5 top tips for creating a dog-friendly garden

The RHS and Battersea’s five top tips to make your garden into the ultimate dog-friendly oasis

Create the perfect garden for both you and your dog with these top tips from RHS Chief Horticulturist Guy Barter and Dawn Grehan, Lead Horticulturist at Battersea, London.

1. Incorporate areas to engage your dog’s senses

Let them use all their senses
A sensory area of the garden is an ideal way to stimulate dogs’ senses while helping to keep them mentally stimulated and decrease boredom. Dogs love to explore by using their noses and there are many dog-friendly herbaceous plants and shrubs that can be planted for them to investigate such as rosemary, basil, thyme and lemon balm.  
 
To keep dogs busy while tending to the garden, owners can set up brain games by hiding some of their pet’s favourite treats or toys around these plants. Offering different surfaces to stimulate dogs’ paws can also engage senses, such as grass, play-grade bark chip and garden paving for pets to follow their owners around the garden. 

2. Make use of robust plants that can withstand playtime 

Create space to run and play without damage
Dogs love to run around and play in the garden, so it’s a good idea to have a range of plants that can withstand a dog’s day-to-day use and able to cope with bursts of energy. Robust plants such as sedges, shorter grasses to run through, catmint and lavender are all good options.  

3. Make your garden pleasing to your dog’s eye too 

Make it pretty for you all
As humans, we enjoy having a beautiful garden with plenty of things to look at but you can also make it pleasing to the eyes of your pets by offering them some visual stimulation in their outdoor sanctuary. Dogs mainly see in blue and yellow, so to help them enjoy the garden just as much as humans, plant yellow and blue dog-friendly plants such as cornflowers, pansies, asters and sunflowers. Pansies also grow all year round, allowing for a permanent feature in the garden for owners and their pets to enjoy. 

4. Incorporate plenty of shaded areas for warmer months 

Make areas for relaxing in the shade
As the weather gets warmer, it’s important to provide your pet with plenty of shaded areas to keep cool and to relax. You can make use of larger trees which are dog-friendly, such as field maple and hawthorns, or larger shrubs such as camellias and Deutzia, which will add a beautiful pop of colour to your outdoor space. When spending time in the garden with your dog in hotter weather, be sure to offer them plenty of water stations to keep hydrated. 

5. Fence off anything that could be toxic to dogs 

Keep your beloved dog safe by learning what it should not eat
There are a number of plants that can be toxic to dogs, which owners should be mindful of, such as alliums including onions, garlic and leeks, foxgloves, rhododendrons and azaleas. If you have any plants in your garden that are toxic to dogs, ensure to enclose these with a secure fence that your dog cannot get through, under or over. 
 
All toxic plants can present different symptoms in dogs, from an upset tummy to vomiting and even heart problems. Any plant can cause side-effects when ingested and some animals may be more sensitive to plants that are commonly considered safe. Be sure to be vigilant when your pet is out in nature and if you are at all worried about your pet’s health, consult your vet immediately.

  • More information on toxic plants to dogs can be found on the Battersea website and an extensive list of plants to avoid can be found on the HTA website
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Dawn Grehan, Lead Horticulturist at Battersea, with Nando the dog
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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.