Unwanted cats roaming your flower garden can be an annoying presence, whether it is one owned by you or by a neighbor. To effectively combat their presence and keep them away, it is vital that you identify what attracts them so you can take effective steps to discourage their return.
One way is to make the ground more challenging for them by scattering items like pine cones and pebbles, which will make walking difficult for cats. You could also try using things that smell bad to cats like citrus peels or essential oils – both can help.
Spray Bottle
Unwanted cats lingering around flower beds can be an eyesore and cause irreparable damage by digging, urinating and chewing plants. A few strategic hacks will ensure the felines leave in peace.
Spreading coffee grounds over the surface of soil is an effective natural cat repellent that will keep them away. Plant oils with repellent properties such as citronella, eucalyptus, peppermint, and tea tree may also work; be sure to replenish these regularly! As an additional benefit, cats do not like being sprayed with water so will likely avoid walking through a garden that has been spritzed with spray water!
Sprinkler System
Cats don’t enjoy walking around wet areas, so smart sprinkler systems that activate when cats approach and spray water at them to deter them are great way to save both time and water waste in your flower garden. Plus, these sprinklers also save on time spent watering the garden! This hack also saves both money and effort!
Chicken wire can also be used to cover flower beds, preventing cats from digging into them or exploring them further. This method provides an economical means of keeping stray and domestic cats out of your garden.
If you don’t have access to fencing materials, consider covering your flower beds with rough materials like pine cones, twigs, rose trimmings and gravel that cats won’t touch – like pine needles or citrus peels – which will serve as deterrents against cats. Spreading scents that cat’s find unpleasant such as black pepper or citrus peels may also prove useful.
Oscillate Fence
If physical deterrents haven’t worked and your cat keeps visiting your flower garden, an oscillate fence might be an effective solution. These devices provide cats with mild shocks when they touch them – discouraging them from staying and protecting your flowers at the same time!
Motion-activated sprinklers offer an easy, effective barrier against cats entering a garden. Installed quickly and only using water when movement is detected, these systems save both money and water usage over other sprinkler systems that operate continuously.
Tape
Cats hate being stepped on, so using tape to cover the soil may prevent them from entering your flower bed. This method is safe and cost-effective.
Use chicken wire around plants in your garden as another simple and cost-effective method of keeping cats away. This approach works well in small spaces without altering its aesthetic qualities.
If you don’t have chicken wire on hand, covering the soil with netting may work just as effectively. While it may take your cat some time to understand that it is not suitable for walking on, eventually they’ll catch on and learn their lesson.
Physical Barriers
Physical barriers such as chicken wire and fruit cage netting may help deter cats from visiting your flower garden, including climbing-inhibiting chicken wire and fruit cage netting. While it won’t prevent cats from digging holes for themselves, this kind of net may prevent cats from climbing over it to gain entry.
Mesh cloth covers can also be an economical and visually pleasing solution, and are particularly beneficial in protecting plants such as Nepeta or Azalea that attract felines.
Other deterrents for cats could include a cat fence, scarecrows and objects with strong scents such as citrus peels, cayenne pepper or mothballs that can be sprayed around the perimeter of your garden to discourage cats from coming inside.
Cat-Attracting Plants
Planting certain varieties of flowers can help deter cats from using your flower garden as their own personal toilet, such as rosemary and catnip. Other plants like pyracantha and scented valerian are less attractive to cats but still effective at deterring them. Furthermore, setting up an outdoor litter box filled with dry sand may further protect your flowers against cats who would use your flowers as toilet facilities.
Visual deterrence measures include wrapping chicken wire or fruit cage netting in a cloche-shaped barrier around your flower beds and vegetable plots to provide another visual deterrent against cats entering them from. According to the RSPB, angle it so that cats approach from this direction in order for maximum effectiveness.
Water
Cats roaming around flowerbeds can be a real annoyance and source of great frustration to gardeners, so using water to drive away unwanted feline visitors is an effective solution that won’t harm either them or their plants. Motion-activated sprinklers that detect movement and shoot out bursts of water to deter cats are one such solution to keep felines at bay without harming either.
Other solutions for deterring cats include predator urine, garlic sprays and other smelly sprays (though they only last temporarily), planting spiky plants that cats can’t reach through or creating an outdoor litter box using fine-grained sand, valerian plants and catnip.