Urine Killing Grass

Daily Vitamin C will provide a healthy lawn.

 

Question:

We have a 6-month-old blue heeler, female; she is slowly turning my grass yellow.  Is there anything that I can do to prevent my grass from dying?

 

Dr. Nichol:

250 mg. (two hundred fifty milligrams) of vitamin C once daily will acidify her urine and cause the grass to grow lush and green in those spots instead of brown and dead.

 

 

Question:

I read in your column that in order to neutralize a female dog’s urine you should give 250 unit of vitamin C. Should I give my female puppy the Vitamin or sprinkle it on the lawn?

 

Dr. Nichol:

The Vitamin C is for the dog. It works by making her urine more acid. It is the alkaline nature of urine that kills grass. An added benefit to your dog having more acid urine is the lower risk of urinary infection and most bladder stones.

 

 

 

517d

Question:

Our year-old female miniature Schnauzer is killing patches of our lawn with her urine. Is there anything we can do?

Dr. Nichol:

Girl dogs, and boys neutered too young to develop the macho habit of hiking their legs to urinate, tend to squat and kill the grass. Acidifying the urine with vitamin C not only solves the problem, it may actually help your grass grow greener and faster. You can give your miniature schnauzer a 100 mg. vitamin C tablet once daily. For dogs over 40 pounds, 250 mg. once a day generally works nicely.

 

It’s hard to go wrong with vitamin C but don’t get carried away. Mega doses won’t give you that Better Homes and Gardens lawn and it may result in diarrhea. Dogs with diabetes or a history of certain types of bladder stones shouldn’t take vitamin C at all.

 

That’s all I know about lawns. If you want help getting rid of your crab grass I suggest buying a sheep or goat, but then you’ll end up with no grass at all.