You were so excited to bring home your very first pet and before you knew it, one turned into three! Now you have a happy family of dogs and cats and your life couldn’t be better. You enjoy watching your favorite furry friends romp and play around outside, rolling around on your lush, green turf. You admire their fun antics and playfulness until… what did they just do? That’s right. They decided to poo on your nice, clean turf. And roll around in it!
Inwardly, you groan and wonder how on earth you’re ever going to get that out from between the blades. You’d already noticed that your turf was getting a bit, well, smelly from all the potty trips they take outside on your lawn, and now this? How will you get your turf smelling good again?
Make Sure There is Proper Drainage
Without a proper drainage system, pet urine will sit on the surface of your turf and eventually dry up, leaving a terrible stink that you – and your neighbors – don’t want in your backyard. Needless to say, proper drainage is essential to making sure pet odors are controlled as much as possible.
When your turf was initially installed, a drainage system was placed underneath the turf’s surface. This system should allow over 30 inches of water to drain per hour per square foot. In other words, rainwater, hose water, and, you guessed it, pet urine should drain right through from the top of your turf down to the bottom and away from your yard.
Unfortunately, a variety of issues can impact drainage capability. These include a buildup of:
- Pet hair
- Leaves
- Dirt
- Impacted infill
- Flower petals, blooms, and organic material
These common sources of debris should always be removed when noticed to keep the drainage system flowing freely. With a good drainage system in place, you can wash your turf down and flush pet urine and small bits of waste away that you can’t pick up. After you flush it away, your turf yard should dry rapidly, making it safe and clean to go back out on for pets and children. The more you can reduce the buildup of pet urine, the less you’ll worry about the buildup of bacteria, mold, or odors.
Check Your Type of Infill
The type of infill used in your turf is another big key in reducing the odors in your yard left by pet waste. Some infills aren’t beneficial to use with pets and can actually contribute to a buildup of urine, odors, and bacteria. Ick! No one wants that.
The best type of infill to use when you have pets that will be playing around and doing their business in your yard should be:
- Pet friendly
- Anti-microbial
- Odor neutralizing
- Drainage enhancing
Many inexperienced turf companies will use silica sand if you have pets because silica soaks up liquid quite well. Unfortunately, this means that pet urine doesn’t drain through and, instead, sits in your grass, contributing to bad odors and the growth of bacteria, mold, and mildew.
At Dirty Turf, we haven’t seen anything work better than a combination of a high quality pet fill and copper slag. This combination creates an infill that looks healthy, full, and natural while preventing nasty pet odors from soaking into your turf. A premium pet fill will absorb some moisture and kill bacteria from the pet urine. Copper slag pairs with it so well because it aids in proper drainage so urine can flow straight through and out of your yard. Together, they create a combination that prevents pet odor and eliminates bacterial buildup.
The combination of premium pet fill and copper slag is perfectly pet and kid-safe, making it the best infill available for pet parents and kid parents, too.
Utilize a Good Turf Deodorizer
As you read through this article, you’re probably starting to realize that turf needs a few critical items to keep it smelling fresh and staying pet-friendly. A good deodorizer is another one of those items. While a deodorizer won’t take the place of proper drainage and the right infill, sometimes you need a quick spot treatment to keep the odors down in between deep cleans.
The best deodorizers shouldn’t simply mask pet odor, but effectively neutralize it. We use an enzyme concentrate that goes straight to the source of pet odor and neutralizes urea, proteins, and uric acid to eliminate pet odor entirely.
Regularly Deep Clean Your Turf
Even when you make sure the drainage is working as it should, the infill is the right kind, and you have a good deodorizer in your lawn, you still might need a deep clean from time to time. This is because the layer underneath your turf, known as the quarter minus, can also get heavily soiled from your dogs consistently using the yard. While hosing their waste away will help, the quarter minus will eventually need cleaning and you’ll need to do more than simply hose it off.
For a true deep clean, you’ll want a heavy-duty cleaning at least once a year that not only cleans the turf, but cleans the existing infill and quarter minus, as well. Once the lawn is thoroughly and deeply cleaned, the proper amount of pet deodorizer should be added to ensure your lawn is the freshest it can be for the months to come.
Beyond this once-a-year cleaning, you might also opt to have your turf cleaned on regular basis. When we at Dirty Turf provide this service, we clean the turf, use a urine annihilator enzyme to neutralize pet urine and a pet deodorizer to ensure your turf stays smelling clean. We’ll also re-bloom your lawn, provide debris removal, and disinfect and sanitize your turf. If your lawn or backyard gets used heavily by one or more pets and is a playground for your kids, a regular cleaning service might just be the ticket to keeping your turf lush, green, and odor-free all year around. Call us today at (602) 638-8777 and we’ll help figure out what service is best for you!
