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Pet-friendly garden ideas

How to keep your garden safe and fun for your pets to explore, with tips from show garden designers Paul Hervey-Brookes and Martyn Wilson

Making an outdoor space that works for both you and the furry members of your family is easy and simple. Just putting some extra thought into what will keep your dogs, cats and other four-legged friends happy can help them get the most out of your garden.

Five ideas for a pet-friendly garden

1) Secure your space

Fences are a simple solution to keeping curious pets in
You need to make sure you don’t provide any accidental escape routes for those pets who don’t know how to make it back home. Creating boundaries using fencing, walls and hedging is an easy way to ensure they don’t make an unexpected exit when you aren’t looking. Just make sure your boundaries don’t have any gaps for pets to squeeze through. You can even use boundaries to create a pet-free zone and protect areas of planting.

2) Choose plants carefully

Sunflowers are non-toxic to cats
While your pets may think some plants look good enough to eat, not all of them are safe to do so. The Blue Cross notes that toxic plants can lead to a range of problems for pets when ingested or touched, from vomiting to skin irritation and more serious illness. It is important to always research when choosing new plants for your garden to make sure they are safe for your animals.

3) Create shady spots

You can use plants to create shade for a place to cool off
​It can be tempting for animals to spend hours outside when the sun is shining so it is a good idea to provide cooler spots for them to retreat to avoid overheating. Shade be created in many ways, such as using trees or shelters, but it might also occur from buildings. It doesn’t have to limit your planting either, as there are many ways to work with shade in the garden.

4) Incorporate play

Dogs can explore RHS Gardens at Walkies events
It’s natural for pets to be adventurous in the garden and there are lots of features you can add to keep them entertained. Hiding spots can be created using pathways between shrubs and long grasses, while providing benches and other surfaces with height, like boulders, can give them something to climb on. Having some open space for pets to run around in will also allow them to burn off energy, but visiting a local park is a great alternative if you have a smaller garden. Remember that RHS Gardens also offer different Walkies evenings for dog owners throughout the year.

5) Introduce different textures

Incorporate a range of plants for snouts to explore
Sensory stimulation in the garden can bring pets as much enjoyment as us. Including things like a range of grasses to roll around in, different types of path to walk on, plants you don’t mind them sniffing in and shallow water features to splash in can keep them interested for hours. Just be careful to avoid sharper edges and surfaces that could cause injuries.

​What do the designers suggest?

Back in 2016, long-standing RHS show designer and judge Paul Hervey-Brookes celebrated the 125th anniversary of the Dogs Trust with his A Dog’s Life Garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.

It’s all about understanding your dog’s behaviour and needs in the garden, as well as what you want from your outdoor space.

Paul Hervey-Brookes

The aim was to create a safe space for dogs needing rehoming to meet potential owners in a garden that functioned for them. “It had a very simple layout with a long stretch of shallow water for dogs to play and cool off in and a quiet enclosed seating area at the back for dogs and people to sit together,” he said.

Paul’s top three features for a dog-friendly garden

  • Shallow water, like a rill, for drinking and splashing in. This is also good for garden wildlife like birds and hedgehogs.
  • Dens and hiding spots to provide dogs with their own space in the garden and to encourage them to only dig around in allocated areas.
  • Fruit and vegetable interest that dogs can eat, like raspberries.

Inspiration from A Dog’s Life Garden

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A water rill to splash in and drink from
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Tall plants for pets to hide in
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An open space for pets to run around
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A water rill to splash in and drink from
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Tall plants for pets to hide in
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An open space for pets to run around
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In the RSPCA Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, designer Martyn Wilson demonstrated how to encourage wildlife in the garden while also taking domestic animals into consideration.

While we do want to encourage our pets into our gardens, we need to protect wildlife too. Things as simple as a bell on a cat’s collar can help alarm birds to keep them out of reach of paws.

Martyn Wilson

To mark the 200th birthday of the RSPCA, the garden included many wildlife features, including dead hedge boxes, a dry-stone wall and nesting boxes, as well as a hide to observe wildlife from. A dog water bowl from the 1920s was also placed in the garden to represent those that the charity put out at the time for working dogs.

What the RSPCA suggest for pet-friendly gardens…

  • For rabbits and guinea pigs, attach a large run onto their shelter for exercise.
  • For cats, include trees to scratch and climb.
  • For dogs, designate digging areas.

The RSPCA Garden was designed to encourage wildlife and welcome pets

There are more resources about garden safety for pets available from animal charities such as the Dogs Trust, Blue Cross and the RSPCA.

About the author - Tenielle Jordison

Tenielle is a journalist and dog owner who spends a lot of time in the garden with her dog.

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