|
Issue Date: April 4, 2004
Home:
 Comfortable family gathering spaces
Garden:
Safe yards for kids and pets
Power of plants
GARDENING
Kid- and pet-proof your yard.
Despite their beauty, gardens can be a dangerous place for pets and children who want to do more than just smell the flowers. Eating plant food, plant petals, leaves and fertilizer can seriously harm or even kill animals and humans, especially children; even non-toxic plants may cause allergic reactions if touched.
HOW TO BE SAFE:
The Easter lily, is especially poisonous to cats.
|
Read labels. Newer pesticides carry toxicity warnings, but if you want to avoid chemicals, try 100% chemical-free Serenade Garden Disease Control. Other garden-friendly products: Organic-Gro, an all-natural fertilizer, and Escar-Go and Sluggo, non-toxic snail and slug baits. Ingesting, inhaling or touching some pesticides can be poisonous, so use child-resistant packaging, and lock products up.
Use natural repellents. Dogs and cats are turned off by the pungent scent of a new variety of coleus -- Coleus canina -- says Cheryl Smith, the author of "Dog Friendly Gardens, Garden Friendly Dogs." Try planting this annual, with dark green foliage and lavender flowers, around vegetable and flower gardens.
Plant wisely. Toxicity often differs between pets and humans. Cocoa bean shell mulch is toxic to dogs but not humans. Some plants, such as dieffenbachia, are irritating to pets and people. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center lists toxic and non-toxic plants at www.apcc.aspca.org.
For a list of toxic regional plants, call your local poison control center (via 800-222-1222).
Make a spot for Spot. Build your dog his own digging pit, Smith suggests, twice as long as the animal and filled with dirt and sand. For Fluffy, put catnip or catmint in a window box or outdoor plot.
-- Laura Daily
|
