A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening Dog poo in the garden

Hello everyone...been awhile since I last visited.

I just bought a house (moving in around the middle of April). Space is limited and my "front yard" is concrete. There is an area about 4' X 15' with a curb and dirt in it. The issue I see is that the current owners have a dog and they have been putting his droppings in the dirt. I assume I will have to dig it out and replace the dirt before I plant anything. My question is can I reuse this dirt at a later point (maybe put into a compost pile and keep tossing in organic stuff)? Or do I just need to dig it up and dump it somewhere?

Thanks!

Shawn

What I've been told about dog poo is that you can put it in the flower garden but not in the vegetable garden. So it depends on what you'll be planting.

Good to see you here.

humm...that's good to know I've been tossing my doggie poop in the field out front of the house because I had just heard don't use it

Dont use dog poo or cat poo;it may have diseases that can spread to people.It also has parasites.

that's what I have always heard so I scoop my dog poo up and toss it in the field, makes ashley mad because hubby uses her little shovel for this job

I'd toss the soil and start with fresh soil. I agree with Enrique about the parasites.

I sure appreciate everyone's responses. I will dig up the dirt and toss it. I sure look forward to growing some veggies at my "new" house!

Shawn

good choice

the problem is with meat eating animals. you can't use their poo because of parasites and bacteria. but herbevoires (horses, cows, rabbits) make good poo to compost for nutrients in your garden.

what if your dog never eats meat.

dog food has meat protein in it. they are natural carnivores. that's why you can't use dog poo. when we lived overseas, we were warned about veggies grown in "night dirt" which is a polite way of saying sewage sludge. talk about a digestinal mess, that's a bad one.

How long would it take for the soil to be okay for growing vegies? What would be the best course of action if I left it in place?

I just figured with everything that is going on with the move that it might be easier if I just planted flowers this year and thought about vegies next year.

Thanks!!

Shawn