Guide
Better pet than plant parent? These are the balcony shrubs for you
by Darina Schweizer
Do you have these plants at home? Then don't let your pets touch them!
19/3/2025
Translation: machine translated
Plants spice up any living space. But if you have pets, you need to be careful. This is because a lot of greenery is poisonous - including some favourite classics.
On my desk is William, a male plant. It is sold under this name because it is very easy to care for. One man in my flat particularly likes it: Jasper the cat. The long stems are reminiscent of Mikado sticks. And they bob incredibly temptingly when I hit the keys.
Lately, Jasper would often sneak behind my screen and start gnawing on the stems. At least he didn't swallow them, but spat them out with a sniff. Why he still didn't stop nibbling is as incomprehensible to me as many other things the cheeky chap comes up with. The end result looked like this:
It's quite annoying, but I wasn't worried until now. Until I learnt that the Sansevieria is a member of the bowhemp family and is slightly poisonous. Now I don't let Jasper touch it any more. But what about the rest of my greenery? Which ones are poisonous and what do I do with them? Here is a brief overview that can save you as a pet owner from having to call the vet in an emergency.
Fingers off these plants
Toxic houseplants (not exhaustive)
Toxic garden plants (no claim to completeness)
Yes, I know. Some of the names on this list are particularly painful because they are very popular. But you don't have to throw away your Monstera, Yucca and co. just because of that. Here are three suggested solutions.
Variant 1: Deterrence
Scare your cat or dog away as soon as they approach the plant. Alternatively, you can spray the plant - or even better: the pot - with diluted lemon juice or vinegar
Variant 2: aim high
For particularly stubborn four-legged friends, you can hang your plants up or place them on a high plant staircase or shelf. There are also variants that are impossible to climb for the best climbers
Variant 3: non-toxic alternatives
I personally opted for an Echeveria, a Haworthia and an olive tree (only the fruits are poisonous to dogs). They are also particularly easy to care for. In other words, they're manly plants that Jasper is likely to gnaw on. But it's like with children: What's allowed is usually uninteresting.
What plants do you have as a pet owner? Or how do you keep your pets away? Tell us in a comment.
Header image: Darina Schweizer
Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI love anything with four legs or roots - especially my shelter cats Jasper and Joy and my collection of succulents. My favourite things to do are stalking around with police dogs and cat coiffeurs on reportages or letting sensitive stories flourish in garden brockis and Japanese gardens.
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