Homemade Lawn Deodorizer
A lawn that looks nice should smell nice as well -- and it typically does, unless neighborhood pets treat the space as their personal litter box. While it may not be practical to keep animals away completely, especially if they are your own pets, a natural homemade deodorizer banishes those unpleasant odors without harming animals or the lawn. Rinsing the affected areas frequently with water also helps neutralize odors.
Remove pet waste from the yard with a plastic bag or poop scoop, discarding the waste promptly. Eliminating odor sources as soon as possible cuts down on wafting odors throughout the yard, especially during warm and hot weather.
Rinse the affected areas thoroughly with water from a garden hose. While this can be done anytime, it's most effective when the odor is fresh. Texas A&M University Agricultural Extension suggests watering all wastes into the lawn within eight hours, as this cuts down on lawn damage produced by copious amounts of nitrogen present in the animal's urine.
Sprinkle a small amount of agricultural lime or powdered gypsum over the affected areas, and wet the grass again. Both materials help neutralize the acidic effects of urine, as well as odor.
Water the areas frequented by pets on a daily basis to cut down on odors. Keeping the odors at bay with water is the best preventive maintenance.
Tip
Water is the best neutralizer for odors in the lawn, because it dilutes the cause of the problem and does not contain chemicals that may burn the grass. It also helps dilute areas of pet urination that may otherwise turn into brown or scorched patches of grass.
Train pets to use one particular area of the yard as the bathroom to keep your lawn looking its best.
Warning
Less is more when it comes to lime or gypsum on the lawn -- infrequent application works best. Applying it often changes the chemical makeup of the soil.
Wear gloves when handling pet waste and wash your hands thoroughly.
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Writer Bio
Kathy Adams is an award-winning journalist and freelance writer who traveled the world handling numerous duties for music artists. She writes travel and budgeting tips and destination guides for USA Today, Travelocity and ForRent, among others. She enjoys exploring foreign locales and hiking off the beaten path stateside, snapping pics of wildlife and nature instead of selfies.
