Unwanted cats lingering around flower beds can be an enormously frustrating problem for gardeners. While keeping them at bay may seem impossible, with proper planning and creative strategies it can be accomplished.
Sprays formulated with natural ingredients can help keep cats away from your flowers without harming them, while spreading coffee grounds as an effective deterrent should also work; but keep in mind this solution requires continual replenishment to be effective.
Physical Barriers
Cats tend to avoid spending time in your flower beds when presented with uncomfortable surfaces to walk on, such as pine cones that are sharp or have cut edges, cut branches of holly or hawthorn, textured mulch and dedicated areas like outdoor litter trays or sand boxes which encourage cats to stick close by.
Cats have an acute sense of smell, which they use to detect offensive odours. Planting lavender, pennyroyal and Coleus Canina (commonly referred to as scaredy-cat plant) as well as scattering dried rue in your flower beds will deter cats from camping there. You could also try spraying with an effective deterrent scent like commercial or homemade repellant sprays that emit an aggressive fragrance to keep cats away.
Water
Cats are drawn to gardens for many reasons, including flowerbeds. But they can be prevented from entering by using various physical barriers – one option would be a fence specifically designed to keep cats out, featuring slatted panels they cannot penetrate or dig through.
Another effective deterrent can be a motion-activated sprinkler which detects movement and sprays a burst of water on them when detected – as many cats dislike being wet, this may serve as an effective deterrent.
There are also various cat repellent sprays that use scents to discourage cats from visiting flower beds, including citrus and lavender scents. Rue (which can be planted live and is said to scare cats away), coffee grounds, nepeta (catmint) and cayenne pepper are other potential deterrents for cats.
Electric Fence
Fencing that provides cats with a small shock is an effective barrier, discouraging them from entering your garden and keeping them away from ponds where they might disturb frogs, toads or other aquatic life.
An electric fence works by closing an electrical circuit when animals touch it, using components known as power energizers to send an electric pulse through one of their terminals to connect to a positive wire connected to the ground wire; plastic insulators serve as protection from other conductive materials that might touch this positive wire.
Ground rods or metal stakes connected to the fence energizer provide a negative terminal that animals touch during pulses to complete the circuit and receive an electric shock.
Tape
If you don’t wish to use harsh repellent sprays in your garden, other ways can help keep cats out. Directing them towards other parts of your yard that appeal to felines might do just as well; placing a patch of fine-grained sand near where your azaleas grow may prove irresistible to felines while at the same time keeping them away from precious blooms.
Use tape to form a barrier that cats cannot cross. Placing double-sided tape slats where your cat would usually walk can prevent him/her from accessing plants or flowers that might harm them, while adding decorative pieces made from tin foil may make the barrier even more effective and attractive.
Oscillate Fence
Cat fences, mesh cloth coverings and scarecrows can all help deter cats from flower gardens, but more effective options may include using objects with strong odors or spreading coffee grounds as deterrents. Furthermore, planting cat-repelling flowers such as rosemary, thyme, rue or lavender may help deter cats.
Motion-activated sprinklers can give cats a shock when they venture near your flower beds, giving them enough of a scare to make them reconsider visiting. It is an efficient and simple solution for keeping cats away from plants.