Would welcome any advice – my elderly parent’s have had a couple of dogs at their house for 15/20 yrs and as a result their lawn stinks of dog urine. Despite both dogs passing-away a few years ago the lawn is still fairly ripe with the smell.

Any similar experiences? Can anything be done to remove or at least reduce the smell? Or do we need to remove the turf and topsoil?

Febreeze. HTH.

I can’t see that it would still be the dog urine after a few years. Is something else not pi**ing there now? Eg cats?

Fox perhaps?

It’ll be a fox.

IME fox pee has a distinctive beery sort of yeasty smell, while cat’s pee smells very strongly of ammonia imo. I am less well acquainted with dog’s piss.

I agree luffy, unless your parents live in the Atacama Desert and haven’t experienced rain for several years I struggle to believe that the smell of their sadly departed pets is still wafting in the garden.

IME fox pee has a distinctive beery sort of yeasty smell, while cat’s pee smells very strongly of ammonia imo. I am less well acquainted with dog’s piss.

Erm, er, phew, erm . . . Ok . . . well I guess you can maybe class piss sniffing as a kind of hobby, perhaps?, I dunno? anything goes nowadays apparently.

Ok. So, starting again. My elderly parents, remote (rural) house has a front lawn that positively reeks of urine.

Not sure of source….could be one of them for all I know.
My old man is considering selling the property but anyone viewing will be put off. (I have a poor sense of smell and it is a very strong “scent”).

Any ideas of what can be done to resolve?

Could it be a plant in the garden or something nearby?

dig the garden up and pave it. everyone likes more parking.

As above, I am going for Fox. Pee all over it yourself. Might keep fox away and wont do any harm.

IME if you piss all over a fox it will get very cross and fight bag

Piss in a bag and throw that at it will be much safer.

You have experience of this Junkyard? That is a story that needs to be told.

Can you lot stop it! I’m sitting in work, giggling manically and trying not to attract to much attention.

They don’t have a box hedge, do they? I’ve never noticed, but they are alleged to smell of foxes, cat urine or somesuch. Which might attract others?

Airete , scarify and feed lawn September is great time to do this , plant lavender looks nice and smells strong , mulch boarders with a chipped bark mulch preferably from pine , again strong smell

Take a photo of your bike, making sure the lawn is in the background. Post it on the forum. Somebody will take the piss out the lawn.

…or ask Google:
https://www.google.com/search?q=lawn+urine+smell+remove

Encourage them to keep cattle on the front lawn- the manure will easily mask the smell of any urine.

Some shrubs (boxwood) can give off a similar smell. Are you sure it’s the lawn?

Pee all over it yourself. Might keep fox away and wont do any harm.

I’ve tried that and ime it doesn’t work.

I’ve had very limited success with lion shit, it’s expensive and its effect doesn’t seem to last – you can’t fool an animal as cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University for very long.

Cheers all. I may give one of those ideas a go.

They don’t have a box hedge, do they? I’ve never noticed, but they are alleged to smell of foxes, cat urine or somesuch. Which might attract others?

Box smells of old tomcats. Fox pee smells quite musty with a sweetish overtone, but there’s more resemblance to dog pee than cat pee. Not everyone can discern fox pee though, different noses work in different ways, the same way not everyone can smell certain flowers (fresias is a classic example) .

I remember at the Garden Museum at Lambeth, where they said their box hedge was beaten up by foxes who are drawn to the smell. For what reason I didn’t ask.

I’ve cut box hedges often enough (Derby Week), never noticed a pong.

Greybeard

someone will take the piss out of the lawn

Nice. Straight over my head the first time I read that.

Not everyone can discern fox pee though, different noses work in different ways

Indeed, I find it to have a musty full-bodied earthy bouquet which strongly suggests a real ale aroma with a hint of barnyard. This intense and altogether not unpleasant nose instantly conjures up images of a fine ale being enjoyed in front of a crackling log fire while nibbling the contents of a packet of Tyrrell’s mature cheddar and chives crisps.

We’ve got some shrubs in pots which stink of ripe pee – even nicknamed them “stinky pee plants”!