Plants that tolerate high acidity?

Question

I'm moving into an apartment with an older dog. He's used to having a huge yard to do his business and at the new place there is only a concrete patio. We've built a raised bed for plants or grass that he'll be able to use, but I'm sure that the grass will burn out in no time. Are there any plants that will tolerate soil that could have a lot of urine?

Answer 1

I've got an idea for you that might work. Why not get some tall pots-higher than your dog can hike his leg, and plant them with some blueberry shrubs-they like high acidity-but not urea. Your dog will urinate on the pot-miss the plant-but you'll get the privacy, greenery, and the beauty of having container plants. Actually, you could put anything in your container-roses, shrubs, flowers, or even little trees-like Japanese maples. I use pots (to keep a snoopy neighbor at bay); but my dog makes daily visits to it everyday! I'm sure your dog will adapt-as long as you're there.

Answer 2

There are no plants that will survive the high concentrations of nitrogen that the urine will contain. It is not a question of pH at all but of supplying enough nitrogen to 'burn' the plants. You may have noticed a ring of taller grass surrounding the dead center where the dog urinated. That ring is the grass that got extra nitrogen without over dosing.
Free run dog parks have this problem with keeping anything alive where the dogs congregate. They use decomposed granite or wood chips but the chips absorb the urine rather than letting it percolate through so they need frequent replacement.

Answer 3

Urine is alkali not acid because of the Ammonia, and unless the dog pees copious amounts it shouldn't make too much difference. Just to be safe you can use http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/index.shtml which lets you narrow down search choices to plants at acid/ alkali conditions