How I built a dog park (with real grass) on my balcony for less than $100
I take medication that compromises my immune system so in an effort to limit my trips outside, I decided to transform part of my balcony into a dog park — with real grass! It’s been working great so I thought I would share it with others who may find this useful or a Plan B if they test positive for COVID-19 and have to quarantine. All told it took less than an hour to put it together and cost less than $100 in supplies. The music video I threw in as a bonus! 😂
I set up the fenced in park on the balcony but it really would work well indoors, it doesn’t require direct light. This is hydroponic grass so it’s lighter than sod and you aren’t supposed to water it anyway — your pet takes care of that (but you need to pick up the poop and flush it). If you have any questions or suggestions leave them in the Comments section and I will be sure to get back to you.
I can honestly say that I feel so much better knowing that I have not only diminished my own trips outdoors but have made it possible for Teddy to “do his business” even if I get sick. And the best part is when the “park” gets stinky you just bag up the grass and throw it away and lay down a new grass slab. See below for how I did.
THE SUPPLIES
SONGMICS Pet Playpen purchased on Amazon for $40. It’s currently sold out but there are similar ones and you can configure the panels however you want. I left one panel out so Teddy would have a door to enter/exit his park. For older dogs or male dogs that have an issue with their aim, these clear panels are everything! It snaps together really easily and comes with a mallet and zip ties which I didn’t even use. It’s a little bigger than 2 feet wide x 4 feet tall so the grass slab fit inside really easily.
FRESH PATCH - This is real grass from California and it comes in a variety of sizes. Teddy is about 30 pounds so I got him the XL size which costs $40 with free shipping but there is a promo code and a discount code if you sign up for an automatic subscription. The XL is 2 feet wide by 4 feet long. Note that the XL does not come with the tray, you have to buy it extra which Fresh Patch sells but I found a kennel tray on Amazon for less than $20. It was a little short but I had a shoe tray that fits perfectly. Now the playpen does come with a bottom so I suppose the tray is not necessary but I wanted the extra protection so I opted for the kennel tray too. The smaller grass plots come with cardboard boxes that you can use so it’s even easier, that said I do like the “fence” I put around mine to focus his aim and give it a little charm. TIP: Order your grass on the weekend or on Monday because it takes about a week to get to the east coast. If I order it before 2pm on Monday I get it by Friday.
In terms of how long the grass lasts, that depends on your furry friend. Teddy uses this exclusively and by 3 weeks it was still hanging in there but it had a lot of dry patches so I put us on a two-week subscription (about $34 including shipping with a promo code) and now it’s pretty sweet. I open the balcony door and he is good to go.
In terms of smell, very little stink but you need to pick up the poop as you would normally (only you can flush it down the toilette).
This really did come right on time, my building just reported our first COVID-19 positive resident and this makes me feel a lot better knowing that other than dumping my trash I don’t really need to have to go out for much. I feel this may also be a godsend for seniors and other vulnerable populations.
Anyway, I am going to jazz it up some more (you may have noticed the pop-up fire hydrant in the back) and will show some more photos soon. Until then, stay safe!