Pet-safe landscaping dos and don’ts for your rental property

Are you the type of rental property owner who is amenable to allowing pets to coexist with their humans in your property? If so, then congratulations! You have essentially broadened your market for potential tenants, especially among pet owners who typically have limited rental options. Since most of them consider their pets as family, they are usually willing to pay more and tend to stay longer with you.To cut down the risks that come with having could harm animals in your rental, make it is as pet-safe as possible. You can start with landscaping. The good news is that you don’t need a large investment to do this. Even simple changes can go a long way in protecting both your property and the pets.

We at Destination Properties are sharing with you some tips to make your rental property pet-safe by letting you know what you can and cannot do.

Dos

• Opt for gravel, wood chips, or shredded hardwood mulch. These won’t cling to longhair coats so that the dog won’t bring these inside the home after a walk outdoors.
• Install a walkway along routes a dog might use to avoid wearing down the grass. Opt for flagstone, decomposed granite, or other sturdy materials.
• Create a sandbox or digging pit filled with pine straw or cedar chips. Pet owners can bury toys and treats there to attract their dogs and train them to dig there instead of in the yard.
• Use only organic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers on plants and lawns.
• Choose the following plants for your yard:
  • Those that are safe for dogs to eat (e.g., blueberries, strawberries, oat grass, and wheatgrass)
  • Those that help reduce fleas (e.g., rosemary, lavender, and mint)
  • Those that are urine-resistant (e.g., bears breech, feather reed grass, and holly fern)
• Opt for tougher types of grass that can endure wear and tear from constant treading. Good options include Bermuda grass and tall fescue grass.
• Consider installing a clover lawn instead of grass. Clover is immune to discolored patches that dog urine can leave on grass.
• Protect flowerbeds by lining their edges with rocks, shrubs, or even a decorative fence.

Don’ts

• Don’t use cocoa mulch when landscaping. This can be toxic to dogs if ingested.
• Don’t cover the ground with large stones. These may hurt the paws of pets.
• Don’t buy plant care products that may be toxic to pets.
• Don’t grow plants that can make pets ill, such as iris, lily-of-the-valley, foxglove, and monkshood.
• Don’t use metal edging to keep dogs away from plants. Such materials can result in cuts.

These tips are helpful both to your pet-loving tenants and to you as a landlord because you create a win-win situation for everyone concerned. Even if these improvements come with additional costs, you can easily make up for the extra investment by increasing the security deposit and asking for a higher rent. Another option is to charge monthly pet rent. In this case, it is important to specify in your advertisements that renting with pets comes with an additional fee.

Once you’ve got pet-friendly landscaping in place, opening your rental property to pets will prove to be rewarding in more ways than one for both you and your tenants with furry companions. Tell them what your city has to offer and what they can do with their pets outdoors. Give them locations of where to go on hikes, where they can go camping, and what they can do in your city.

Consult with our expert team at Destination Properties regarding all there is to know about investing in rental properties in Ogden, UT and how to develop them so that they can attract the attention of potential tenants. Call us today at 801.745.2009 or send an email to info(at)destinationproperties(dotted)com.