Using "dog bones" in the garden...need advice, please

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joylederman Dover, PA Jun 11, 2012

I buy the huge "mastodon bones" for my two big dogs. Often my backyard looks like an elephant graveyard! Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can use these gnawed bones in the garden once my dogs have finished chewing all the good stuff off of them? I wondered if I can make my own bone meal by running these things through my chipper, but I'm afraid that will dull the blades. Should I somehow treat the bones first (acid? baking at high temps? other?)? Is there a way to dissolve them to free up the Calcium? Should I just bury these under some compost? Or do I just throw these things away? Any advice would be welcome. Thank you!

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Jun 11, 2012

Hi Joy. I ran across these links that may be useful to you..

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg0117384025879.html

http://greenthumbs.tribe.net/thread/b6b6bd6e-08dd-4acc-8005-ec1540c4de58

If the bones are long enough, you could cut them in half and use them as edging around a compost pile...or make a huge hanging bone chime to keep birds away from the garden...(or maybe not...grin)

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joylederman Dover, PA Jun 18, 2012

Thanks for the links! joyL

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Jun 18, 2012

A lot of my family were country folks and when we were little, it was not an unusual sight to see farmers / gardeners to bury dead animals in the garden, allotments, veg beds etc (deep burrials) this added blood / bone to the soil as the dead body de-composed, today we buy this already dried and sold in packets for our use as a feed, / soil improver, and as it is a slow release improvement I cant see any problem for you to burry the bones as you get them after the dogs have had pleasure from them.
They will take several years to fully compost down but, you wont be digging them up every week to see if they are still OK and the plants will still take the calcium, bone etc from them as they do slowly break up.

I am a believer in waste nothing that is a natural substance, it.s tha man made stuff we have to try get rid off.
Good luck, WeeNel.

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Jun 19, 2012

You are welcome, hope they are of use to you.

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sengeland04 Fisher Island, FL Jun 22, 2012

Thanks for this Info.




[url=http://learnlandscape.com/10-tips-for-backyard-landscaping-with-dogs]Backyard Landscaping with Dogs[/url]


This message was edited Jun 22, 2012 1:53 PM

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