If you’re wanting to know more about neutralizing dog urine on the grass with lime, you’ll probably want to know a bit more about lime itself.
In this guide we’ve looked into:
– What lime is
– The types of gardening and lawn lime
– And, what the potential benefits and drawbacks are when it comes to neutralising dog urine.
Let’s check out the info on lime as a neutraliser!
(NOTE: this is a general information guide only, and is not professional advice, or a substitute for professional advice. A qualified vet or animal expert is the only person qualified to give you expert advice in regards to your pet/s)
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Can You Neutralise Dog Urine On The Grass With Lime?
First, Be Aware Of General Grass & Lawn Care Considerations For Dog Owners
This guide about lime is only one small part of the overall picture of grass care for dog owners.
These two guides linked below provide a much bigger picture on general grass and lawn care considerations:
Complete Guide To Lawn/Grass Care For Dog Owners
How To Stop A Dog Peeing & Pooping On Your Grass, & How To Manage Dog Urine Grass Burn
It’s worth in particular looking into preventing a dog from peeing on your lawn in the first place, and also, setting up a designated spot in your yard for them to go potty (that isn’t on your lawn).
What Is Garden and Lawn Lime?
Garden or lawn lime is a soil amendment (something you add to the soil to promote growth) made by grinding limestone, a naturally occurring type of rock that is very high in calcium.
It usually comes in either pelletised/granule, or powder form – both of which you can spread onto your lawn.
Garden/Lawn Lime vs Builder’s Lime
Garden lime should not be confused with Builder’s Lime.
Builders’ lime (also known as “slaked”, “hydrated”, “quick”, “calcium oxide” or “burnt” lime) is a very fine powder.
It is made by heating pieces of limestone in kilns to a red heat and then allowing them to fully cool. If it comes into contact with moist skin or eyes it can cause serious burns.
When applied to the soil, builders’ lime acts twice as fast to reduce acidity as garden lime while the rate of application is only half that of garden type limes like dolomite.
Builders’ lime is usually cheaper than Garden lime.
Builder’s lime IS NOT USUALLY recommended for use in the garden, on lawns or on plantswith other humans and pets around.
What Types Of Garden Limes Are There?
There are two main types of garden and lawn lime:
Agricultural lime – usually sold as ‘garden lime’, and is made from calcium carbonate.
Dolomitic lime – made from dolomite, a type of rock very similar to limestone except it also contains magnesium. Both types of lime provide calcium for plants, but dolomitic lime also supplies magnesium, a nutrient often low in some soils.
Dolomite lime is the lime people usually use for treating lawns with dog urine on them.
Both limes might go by other names such as “aglime”, “biolime”, “garden lime”, and “calcium carbonate”.
Some people prefer to use organic limes with natural ingredients over some of the more commercial non organic limes.
An example of an organic dolomite limes is Greenway Biotech Organic Dolomite Lime (on Amazon).
What Does A Dolomite Lime Do To Grass and Lawn?
The idea behind sprinkling a dolomite lime/limestone on your grass or garden is that contains calcium carbonate, and in the case of dolomitic lime, magnesium.
So it:
a) provides more calcium to the lawn, and
b) provides more magnesium to the lawn.
The more hydrogen you have in the lawn, generally, the more acidic it is – acidic lawn is usually referred to by gardeners as ‘sour soil’.
Adding more calcium and magnesium to the soil, in theory helps bring the pH of the soil back higher (and less acidic), which may be better conditions for some grasses to grow.
If you want to know what pH of soil, you can do a soil test with something like the Healthy Wiser Soil pH Tester Meter (on Amazon).
So, Does Lime Actually Neutralise Dog Urine On Grasses and Lawns?
It might, but regardless, it can be great for grass and soil fertility.
Firstly, we should know that dog urine does two things when your dog pees on the grass:
Can discolour, burn and kill grass with the nitrogen in the urine
Dog urine soaks into the soil below. Given that most pet urine has a pH of 5.5 to 7, it may be making the soil more acidic
So, using lime on grasses and lawns before and after dog urine gets on the grass might:
Provide better soil pH conditions for the grass to recover from grass burn, but also to show less damage from dog urine.
Most lawns grow well in conditions somewhere between pH 5.5 and 7.5, depending on the grass
If lime is sprinkled on urine directly after peeing, it may help cancel out some of the acidity of the urine in theory – but we can’t find any testing on this
It may also provide a grass and soil environment in which some dog urine or poop bacteria might have a harder time surviving and reproducing
A Reminder On How You Might Use Lime Safely
Wet the lawn after applying lime before you let dogs and kids play on it
Don’t let your dogs eat it from the grass or directly out the bag – lock the bag away when not in use
Follow instructions on the bag for application – pay attention to any waiting conditions before exposure
Follow and adhere to any warnings on the bag
See a vet if any health conditions arise in pets from ingesting or exposure
Further Resources For Using Lime On Your Lawn and Soil
Liming, Testing Soil and Other Types Of Soil Conditioners
What Determines and Changes The pH Levels Of Soil
Different Types Of Limes and How Different Lawns and Plants Grow In Different pH Conditions
What Is Lime, What It Does and How To Tell If Your Soil Needs Lime
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