DETER CATS FROM YOUR GARDEN WITH NATURAL REMEDY THAT WILL ALSO FERTILISE YOUR PLANTS

Fortunately, there are several effective and harmless ways to deter cats from the garden. Here, Chris Bonnett from GardeningExpress has shared his tips for keeping your garden cat-free.

Neighborhood cats can cause issues in gardens by damaging plants, eating crops, and using raised beds as litter boxes.

If you want to keep cats away from your garden or just deter them from specific areas like your vegetable patch, there are several strategies you can use to prevent these unwanted visitors.

It’s important to understand why cats keep visiting your garden in the first place. Could it be that you’re unknowingly attracting them to your outdoor space?

One of the main reasons cats roam around is because they’re looking for food. Ensure your bins are secure and dispose of any food waste, including bird food that’s fallen from the feeder. Additionally, clean up any existing cat feces in your garden, as they use it to mark their territory.

If you don’t have a fence, installing one around your garden is an obvious solution to keep cats away. While cats are good climbers, a high, close-boarded fence will make it more difficult for them to enter. However, building a fence can be expensive, so consider more cost-effective alternatives.

A quick and easy deterrent is to cover the soil around your plants with prickly materials such as twigs, pinecones, pebbles, or rough mulch. This makes your garden less appealing to cats, as they prefer soft soil and avoid walking on uncomfortable surfaces.

Other methods include placing nets over plants, keeping flowerbeds watered, incorporating cat-repelling plants into your garden, and installing motion-activated sprinklers.

Here are Chris Bonnett’s top ten tips for deterring cats from the garden:

Install physical barriers

To make the garden harder for cats to access, install a fence around it. If you already have a fence, ensure there are no holes that cats can sneak through. You can also place nets over areas you want to keep cats away from, such as raised beds or vegetable plots.

Cover the soil

Cats like to dig in exposed, soft soil around plants and use it as a litter box. To deter them, scatter prickly materials such as rough mulch, rocks, pinecones, or holly leaves on the soil. This creates an uncomfortable surface for cats to walk on, which can help keep them away.

Plant cat-repelling plants

Consider incorporating pungent plants in your garden to deter cats, as they dislike strong smells. Excellent choices include lavender, rosemary, lemon balm, pennyroyal, scaredy cat plant, and lemon thyme.

Scatter coffee ground

Sprinkle used coffee grounds around your plants and garden beds. The strong smell of coffee not only keeps cats at bay, but the grounds can also act as a natural fertiliser for your plants.

Spray vinegar

Dilute vinegar with water in a spray bottle and apply it around your garden or in areas where cats tend to visit. The strong smell of vinegar is another natural deterrent for cats.

Use motion-activated sprinklers

Install motion-activated sprinklers that spray water when cats approach. The sudden burst of water will startle them, discouraging them from returning to your garden.

Keep garden beds watered

Cats like to dig soil that’s dry and loose, so make sure you’re regularly watering your garden beds to keep the soil consistently moist.

Plant closely together

Plant closely together to minimize open spaces and exposed soil, making it difficult for cats to find a digging spot. If your garden lacks comfortable roaming areas, cats are more likely to seek another location.

Provide a cat-friendly zone

If you’re not looking to keep cats away entirely but just want to redirect them from specific areas of your garden, consider setting up a cat-friendly zone to draw their attention away from your cherished plants. Plant catnip or other cat-attracting plants and add some soft soil or sand to make the area appealing to them.

Remove food sources

You might be inadvertently attracting cats by leaving out food waste they enjoy. Ensure that cats can’t access your bins and clean up any bird food that spills onto the ground from feeders.