Protecting plants from cats entering your garden.

When growing vegetables or flowers in the garden, it is often the same offenders that keep coming in to damage beds, uproot seeds, dig holes and defecate. So how best to deal with a problem like free roaming cats? In the area around my partners home this has been a big issue for us as there are huge numbers of domestic cats in the surrounding area.

Here are some ideas and options available, most have been tested by me, with a couple of other ideas that I am potentially going to try in the future.

1. Strong smells.

1.1. Coffee and Orange. An option that has been recommended is using orange peels and coffee grinds as they are smells that cats hate. Many people have said that they did not find this works, and I am reluctant to be putting food  in the garden like this due to potentially attracting foxes which could be as much of a nuisance as the cats! These also need to be replenished often, especially after rain, so it is not a particularly long term or sustainable option for most people.

1.2. Fragrant Plants. We tried this using Lavender plants for a double purpose of attracting bees to the garden as well as keeping the cats away and haven't found it to be particularly effective for the latter. It has been said that plants such as Lavender, Geranium, Pennyroyal and Lemon Thyme can be good for deterring cats, whilst the top option and believed to be the most effective is Rue, which we have not tried out yet.

One of the newer lavender plants added to the garden.

 2. Netting over beds.

If you have a raised bed, which is a good idea to have when growing vegetables in particular, placing garden netting or chicken wire over the top can directly protect seedlings and small plants whilst they become established. This has worked well for us in the past, but once the plants grow large enough, it needs to be removed so no longer offers protection.

Our raised bed ready for planting, but also potentially an oversized litter tray in the eyes of a cat!

3. Direct barriers.

 The single most effective way I have found of protecting the beds was using garden wire and fairly lightweight fencing to construct a temporary fence around the edge of the bed. This is not a cheap option but will definitely keep your plants safe from animals looking to dig a toilet. Furthermore it can be re-used each season if you create a mobile fence that can be lifted off and placed back down when required.

4. Uneven surfaces.

It has been said that cats dislike walking on uncomfortable and uneven surfaces. Placing bush clippings such as brambles, rose bush branches and the like around the planting patch could stop cats from coming any closer. I have not tried this out myself but it seems that this is definitely a viable option, although it could be a bit untidy, so it depends on your preferences!

Thorny clippings.

5. "Cat Repeller."

I have been looking at the motion sensor repellents that use a high frequency sound that is only able to be heard by cats as it is off the spectrum for most people. With a motion sensor rather than a continous sound, it is hoped that a cat will be less likely to become desensitised to the noise which can occur if they notice that the noise is just random and not associated with them entering a particular area. I am going to research these further to find out more about them and to be sure they are not going to effect any other wildlife. If I am confident it will not have any negative impacts, I will buy one and write a review on its effectiveness in the future, so watch this space! :)