How to create a dog-friendly garden - with tips from Monty Don

There’s a wry smile playing across Monty Don’s face as he concedes: "I know my place – I’m a handler."

One of the country’s most-loved gardeners, he admits to being upstaged frequently by his pets on Gardeners’ World, adding: "I’d completely underestimated how dog-mad people are."

A lifelong dog owner, Monty recalls that it wasn’t long into recording the weekly BBC show at his Herefordshire home before the family’s golden retriever Nigel began to steal the limelight. His appearance was incidental at first, but Nigel’s star quality soon won the nation’s hearts and cemented his place in the line-up.

Gardener or not, viewers tuned in for the show’s gentle celebration of the good life and saw a practical demonstration that dogs can be part of a garden without destroying it.

So when the Royal Horticultural Society invited Monty to create a dog-friendly garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, it was his opportunity to distil years of experience into a garden that gave us fun and function.

"It’s inspired by [my garden] Longmeadow and my own dogs," he explains, "but above all it is acelebration of the way that so many of us share our gardens with our canine companions."

Since lockdown, Britain’s love of dogs has boomed and around four in ten of us now share our homes with them. It was time, believed Monty, to put the myths and fears of dogs in the garden behind us by creating a joyous space that would be loved as much by gardeners as dogs.

With Battersea Dogs & Cats Home the destination for his garden once Chelsea Flower Show closed, it was vital that Monty and his co-creator, nurseryman Jamie Butterworth, got the details right.

Working with experts at the RHS and animal behaviourists at Battersea, the design centred on an open patch of hard-wearing lawn, where dogs can bounce and play, alongside shady spaces and cool water as refuge in hot weather.

A semi-enclosed ‘doghouse’ created a restful space for both dog and owner – made special for Monty’s golden retriever, Ned, by the inclusion of cushions and fabrics cut from Monty’s familiar, worn-out clothes.

Robust planting that tolerates tails, paws and bouncing balls meant this was no high-falutin’ showpiece but a down to-earth display of everyday yet beautiful plants.

Tried and tested varieties from Longmeadow – hazels, an apple tree, dogwood, poppies, fennel, thistles and ferns – stood alongside giant pots that raised other plants out of harm’s way.

Judging by Ned’s and other doggy visitors’ antics on launch day, the garden ticked all the boxes. So what’s the psychology behind a successful garden for dogs?

Dawn Grehan, Battersea’s lead horticulturist, who now oversees the relocated garden, explains, "We can’t underestimate the power of nature – whether on humans or dogs.

"They don’t want to stay indoors, so get them outside where they’re evolved to be. It really de-stresses them and makes them more receptive to training."

7 tips to create a dog-friendly garden

The team has distilled the essence of Monty’s Chelsea garden into a blueprint of key steps for anyone making a garden to share with dogs.

1. Create sensory areas

Give your four-legged friend sensory areas to explore, which keep them stimulated and stave off the boredom that can lead to destructive behaviour.

Most dogs follow their noses, so scented and soft-textured plants should be at the heart of your garden, such as the aromatic herbs thyme and rosemary, which tolerate curious snouts and make great path edging.

2. Lay a hardwearing lawn

Springy surfaces underfoot keep dogs engaged in playtime, with an area of hard-wearing grass for working off the ‘zoomies’ being essential.

3. Make use of robust plants

Use sturdy plants that stand up to the rough and tumble. Shrubs are your backbone through the year, to entice with scent and texture, and guide dogs along preferred routes.

A low hedge of lavender, nepeta, sage or rosemary along a path, with large-leaved shrubs or ornamental grasses as sentinels on corners, creates a structure that protects areas beyond while giving dogs freedom to run.

4. Create shady spots

Add shade through your planting, to keep dogs safe when the thermometer rises.

A small multi-stemmed tree such as birch or amelanchier, and varieties that regrow fast after heavy pruning or coppicing, including hazel, willow and buddleia, are good choices –and fit a smaller garden.

Larger shrubs and thornless climbers over arches or pergolas, such as clematis, roses and honeysuckle, will cast cool shadows for escaping the sun.

5. Add a splash of water

Water is vital, too, for ensuring your dog’s comfort.

In Monty’s Chelsea garden, a watery wallow created a fancy form of every dog’s favourite cooling ditch, but an easier home solution would be to use a shallow trough or tray filled from a garden tap, or a kids’ paddling pool topped up with watering cans on hotter days.

6. Choose plants to catch your dog's eye

Dogs respond to visual stimulation, too, says Dawn – though in simpler forms and a more limited palette of colours than humans.

They register blues and yellows, so planting in these hues helps create a space to which they’re drawn.

7. Fence off harmful plants

Use barriers to stop dogs accessing potentially harmful plants, with short hedges and hurdles, raised beds and large pots all good design solutions to keep you gardening and your pooch out of trouble.

Every dog is different, says Dawn, so assess the risk presented by your own pet, particularly if some of your plants are known to be toxic.

"If it’s young and curious, a dog will explore everything with its mouth, while a lot of older dogs don’t. Understand your dog, be sensible and vigilant, but always contact your vet if you have concerns.

Train your dog to treasure your garden

"There are inevitably some dog behaviours that challenge even the best-laid plans. Digging holes, chewing leaves, peeing (and pooing), crashing through plants and barking at the slightest flutter are all predictable.

The answer, says Monty, lies with you.

"The advice I give about dogs trashing gardens is don’t let them get away with it – discipline them," he says.

"Dogs respond to firm but gentle discipline, which means saying no. I believe in training dogs for obedience, for their safety and wellbeing."

Your garden can also be a legacy to your dogs’ role in family life, as resting place and memorial to a cherished friend.

Monty’s buried all his dogs in the verdant copse at Longmeadow and admits it’s one of many reasons why he could never sell his home.

"The garden is theirs as much as mine," he adds.‘"It’s a good way of remembering them every day as we walk past – and they’re part of the garden."

The best plants for a dog-friendly garden

Robust shrubs and grasses

Lavender, catmint (Nepeta),dogwood, viburnum, sedge(Carex), pheasant grass, stipa, miscanthus, calamagrostis, camellias, and thornless shrub roses ‘Kew Gardens’, ‘LichfieldAngel’ and ‘Mary Delany’.

Scented plants and herbs

Rosemary, sage, thyme, lemon balm, elaeagnus, mint, thornless climbing Rosa banksia ‘Lutea’.

Blue and yellow flowers

Cornflowers, knapweed, pansies, asters (above),sunflowers, marigolds, and hardy geranium ‘Rozanne’ and ‘Johnson’s Blue’.

Harmful plants for dogs

Poisonous seeders

Castoroil plant, aconitum, lupins, foxgloves, yew, gingko and lords-and-ladies.

Toxic if eaten

Most bulbs including lilies, allium, colchicum and garlic, plus azaleas, hops, hogweed, box, hydrangea and ivy.

Sappy plants that burn

Euphorbia,datura, rue, dittany and cow parsley.

Houseplants with toxicity if eaten

Peace lily, monstera, dracaena, dieffenbachia, poinsettia and aloe vera.