Cats can do extensive damage to a flower garden by digging, chewing and using plants as soft napping spots. Luckily, there are ways to keep cats away from your flowers without harming either them or your garden.
Cat-repellant methods range from planting cat repellent herbs to spraying commercial repellents; experiment with each option until you find one that best fits your garden and situation.
Electric Fence
Cats make great pets, but can be destructive in gardens and flowerbeds by digging (and leaving unapproved deposits), using plants as soft napping spots, and chewing. If a cat seems attracted to your garden, there are some natural methods you can try in order to keep it away.
Chicken wire is an effective nontoxic solution to creating an effective flower bed barrier. The wire will deter cats and other animals from coming near, without harming any of your flowers in any way.
Add an extra step in cat deterrence by placing a scarecrow in your garden filled with unappetizing materials that cats wouldn’t find attractive, like fragrant herbs or mothballs. This should work to deter cats.
Oscillate Fence
If you don’t want a permanent fence around your flower garden, try installing chicken wires to cover any holes cats could dig through. They are an affordable and straightforward solution.
Nontoxic and cost-effective way of discouraging cats from your flower bed: Use tape balls made of duct or masking tape on the ground near plants as another nontoxic and cost-effective deterrent against cats. When they attempt to jump, the tape balls stick to them, irritating and blocking their view of where to land.
Try using scents that repel cats, such as citrus peels or essential oils. Spread these around your garden or plant scented flowers like sage and lemon balm that contain these scents.
Physical Barriers
There are various methods you can employ to physically protect your flower garden from cats. According to RSPB recommendations, one effective strategy would be bending wire netting into a cloche shape and placing it over seedbeds, window boxes or vegetable patches where cats may dig.
Alternative approaches may include using a mat with 3/4″ spikes on its surface; cats find walking over it difficult and will avoid it altogether. You could also distribute citrus peels over your soil surface; their scent is unpleasant for cats and may serve to deter them.
Herbs such as lavender, lemon thyme and rue are said to repel cats and can be planted in your flower garden to provide added protection from cats.
Spray Bottle
Cat repellent sprays contain ingredients designed to make cats uncomfortable in order to make them leave an area instead of harming them, without harming themselves in any way. They come in various scents like citrus and lavender.
Planting cats-repelling plants like perennial geraniums will also help keep cats away from your flower beds. Their scent will deter cats, while the prickly leaves make walking on them unpleasant; other examples include holly, roses and blackberry bushes which all act as deterrents to cats.
Scarecrows can serve as effective visual barriers, according to the RSPB. Other solutions may include bending wire bird netting into a cloche shape to protect specific flowerbeds or using a trellis as a visual shield.
Sprinkler System
Cats can be a major nuisance in your garden. They use flower beds as outdoor litter boxes and chew on foliage of plants and shrubs before even digging holes that destroy soil quality in flowerbeds.
Chicken wire fences can be challenging for cats to navigate and are an effective means of keeping them out of your yard. If this approach doesn’t appeal to you, try placing prickly pine cones at entrances to flower beds instead.
Aromatic repellents in your garden are one way to deter cats, though you must ensure the scent lasts as it fades over time. Coffee grounds in flower beds is one way to achieve this result.
Water
Cats can be discouraged from coming near your garden with non-harmful strategies that won’t harm them, such as spraying water from a hose at them to dissuade them immediately and make them seek other areas in your yard. A spray of water from a hose discourages cats immediately while repeated sprays will eventually make them move on from where they have been perching themselves.
Another way to deter cats from digging in your flower beds is spreading coffee grounds as an effective natural repellent that won’t harm them; other smelly substances, like predator pee and garlic can also work effectively.
Your cat fence should be specifically designed to keep them away from gardens and flowerbeds. These types of enclosures typically use stronger materials like wood or plastic to ensure optimal performance.