An animal friendly garden does two jobs: it keeps pets away from the plants and products that can poison them, and it gives the local birds, lizards and frogs somewhere to live. This guide covers the garden plants most dangerous to dogs and cats, the safer swaps, how to lay out a yard a dog can share, and what Australian wildlife needs.
The garden plants most dangerous to pets
Most plants cause nothing worse than a stomach upset. A small number are dangerous in small amounts, and these are the ones to remove or fence off.
| Plant | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Sago palm and other cycads | Every part is poisonous and the seeds most of all. Causes liver failure in dogs and is often fatal. |
| Oleander | Affects the heart. All parts, including dried leaves and clippings. |
| Azalea and rhododendron | Vomiting, drooling and weakness, with heart effects in larger amounts. |
| Lilies (true lilies and daylilies) | Cause kidney failure in cats, even from pollen licked off the coat. In dogs they usually cause a stomach upset. |
| Yesterday, today and tomorrow (brunfelsia) | The berries and seed pods cause tremors and seizures in dogs. |
| Foxglove | Affects the heart in the same way as oleander. |
| Daffodil and other bulbs | The bulbs are the risk, usually when a dog digs them up. |
| Philodendron, pothos and peace lily | Sap irritates the mouth and causes drooling and vomiting when leaves are chewed. |
If you decide to keep azaleas or any other plant on this list, put it in a bed the dog cannot reach and clear up prunings straight away. Wilted clippings are often more attractive to a bored dog than the living plant.
Hazards that are not plants
- Snail and slug bait. Metaldehyde pellets are a common cause of pet poisoning. Use iron based pellets, and store any bait where a dog cannot get at the box.
- Cocoa mulch. It contains the same compound that makes chocolate dangerous to dogs. Choose bark or leaf mulch.
- Compost and fertiliser. Mouldy compost can cause tremors, and blood and bone smells like food. Keep bins closed and dig fertiliser in.
- Fallen fruit and nuts. Grapes and macadamia nuts both make dogs ill. Pick them up under the vine or tree.
If you think your pet has eaten something
Do not wait for symptoms. Ring your vet or the Animal Poisons Helpline on 1300 869 738, and take a piece of the plant or the product packet with you. Vomiting, drooling, tremors, wobbliness and unusual quietness after time in the garden all warrant a call.
Safer plants to use
These are listed as non toxic to dogs and cats by the ASPCA, whose plant lists are the standard reference. Any plant can upset a stomach if enough of it is eaten.
- Indoors: spider plant, Boston fern, areca palm, parlour palm, African violet and the cast iron plant.
- In the garden: camellia, bottlebrush, sunflower, zinnia, petunia, snapdragon and calendula.
- Herbs: rosemary and basil.
Our list of the 10 best pet friendly plants for your home is a good place to start replacing anything risky. Australian natives fill the same role outdoors, and our step by step native garden guide shows how to build a whole planting scheme around them.
Designing a garden a dog can share
- Give the dog its own routes. Dogs patrol the fence line, so leave a path there and plant behind it.
- Use raised beds or low fencing around vegetables and anything delicate.
- Choose tough plants for the edges of paths: lomandra, dianella and clumping grasses spring back after being run through.
- Provide shade and fresh water outside, and a patch of sand or bare soil where digging is allowed.
- Avoid spiky plants at eye height beside paths and play areas.
What Australian wildlife needs
A wildlife garden here is not the same as one in Europe or North America. Our fauna is different, and so are the things that limit it, the biggest of which is usually not food but shelter and safe water.
| Wildlife | What brings them in |
|---|---|
| Honeyeaters, wattlebirds, lorikeets | Nectar: grevillea, banksia, callistemon, melaleuca |
| Small birds (wrens, finches) | Dense prickly shrubs for shelter from predators |
| Native bees | Open flowers, bare sunny ground, undisturbed stems |
| Blue tongues and skinks | Rocks, logs, leaf litter, sunny basking spots |
| Frogs | Water with sloping edges, dense planting at the margin |
| Possums and gliders | Hollows, mature trees, a connected canopy |
Shelter matters more than food
Most Australian suburbs have plenty of nectar, largely from grevilleas and bottlebrush in gardens. What they lack is dense low cover, which is why noisy miners and other large aggressive honeyeaters dominate while small birds like fairy wrens and thornbills disappear. The single most effective thing you can do for small birds is plant dense, prickly, mid height shrubs such as hakea, bursaria and prickly wattles. Our guide to the top bird attracting native plants lists the species, and designing a native garden that attracts wildlife covers the layout.
Water, done safely
- Put a stick or rocks in every water container so bees, lizards and small birds can climb out.
- Raise bird baths and keep them away from cover that cats can hide in.
- Change the water regularly. Stagnant water breeds mosquitoes and spreads disease between birds.
- Give ponds a shallow sloping edge so frogs and lizards can get in and out.
- In northern Australia, keep pet bowls raised and empty at night, because cane toads are drawn to them.
Things that undo the rest
- Broad spectrum insecticides remove the insects that small birds, lizards and frogs eat.
- Fine or loose netting traps and kills birds, possums and flying foxes. Use wildlife safe netting with a mesh under 5 mm, pulled taut.
- Free roaming cats are the single largest garden scale threat to Australian native wildlife. Keeping a cat in at night, or contained altogether, makes an enormous difference.
- Feeding birds bread or mince causes serious nutritional disease. Plant nectar instead of putting food out.
Leave some mess
Leaf litter, fallen logs, rocks and hollow stems are habitat, not untidiness. Leave a corner unmanaged, keep a log pile, let seed heads stand through winter, and stagger your tidying so there is always shelter somewhere. On rural blocks and near bush, keep dense groundcover away from doorways and paths, since it also shelters snakes.
Common questions
Which garden plant is most dangerous to dogs?
The sago palm and other cycads. A dog that chews the seeds can suffer liver failure, and it needs a vet immediately.
Are lilies poisonous to dogs?
They usually cause a stomach upset in dogs. The serious danger is to cats, where even a little pollen can cause kidney failure.
What can I use in place of snail bait?
Iron based pellets, used sparingly and stored out of reach, or traps and hand picking at night.
Ready to plant?
A garden can be full and green and still safe for the animals that share it, provided the dangerous species are swapped out or fenced off. Browse our range of plants safe for pets, or build the backbone of the garden from Australian natives that feed local birds at the same time.
