There are humane ways to keep cats out of flower gardens without harming them. Planting fragrant or prickly plants such as rosemary, lemon thyme, rue or Coleus Canina plants (known as “scaredy cat coleus”) will discourage cats by emitting an unpleasant odor when touched.
Chicken wire or covering the soil with pebbles and coarse material will make walking uncomfortable for cats. Cats also dislike being wet, so a motion-triggered sprinkler can repel them by spraying water onto their bodies.
Electric Fence
Cats can cause havoc with flower gardens by digging, scattering soil and using them as soft napping spots. A single or double strand electric fence at low voltage may deter cats from digging up your flowers, scattering soil around, and using the flowers as soft napping spots. If this doesn’t deter them, try installing a motion activated sprinkler which sprays out water on them – wind chimes or loud noises might also scare them off!
Planting catnip or Coleus caninus around your garden can deter cats, while planting scented herbs like pyrethrin or nepeta also has proven effective. You can also try covering the ground with twigs, chicken wire or rough pebbles so as to make walking through uncomfortable for them.
Tape
Cats have an instinctual attraction to flowerbeds, where they can perform several essential daily functions – like digging or using them as toilets – making these spaces highly sought-after by felines. To prevent cats from accessing these blooms and digging in them too deeply and damaging your garden further. Physical deterrents should be used as effective preventives against their digging activities and damage to gardens.
Cat-repelling items that are natural and non-harmful such as orange and lemon peels, rue (which can also be planted), cayenne pepper or dried coffee grounds may all work effectively to deter cats.
Covering an area in chicken wire or fruit cage netting can also prove effective at discouraging cats from roaming freely in a yard, and may make stepping on rough surfaces uncomfortable for them – potentially sending them elsewhere in your backyard!
Oscillate Fence
Cats often visit gardens because of the animals and bugs they can hunt in them, as well as loose soil in which to bury their waste. One nontoxic and inexpensive way to make gardens less inviting for cats is to cover them with objects cats don’t like walking on such as pine cones, nut shells and sticks as well as covering it in rough mulch made from wood chips or blackberry brambles – anything which will deter their entrance can only help.
Citrus scents will deter pests, while dry mustard, coffee grounds and rosemary spread around your garden will act to deter pests while enriching soil quality. Plastic chicken wire fencing or fruit cage netting may be used as enclosure methods – though this may look unsightly.
Wire Mesh
Cats can become a menace in the garden when they begin digging up flowerbeds, eating plants or leaving behind their waste. Luckily, there are humane solutions available that can keep cats out – it may take some experimentation to find something suitable to your particular situation and garden though!
One solution for keeping cats from digging up your flowers is placing chicken wire in the ground – this won’t hurt them but may make their paws uncomfortable and help dissuade them from exploring your flower garden. You could also try placing pine cones or pebbles down to deter them, while a layer of textured mulch could also deter their attempts at digging in your flower bed.
Water
Cats tend to avoid walking on rough surfaces and are less likely to dig up your flowers if they’re on surfaces that make walking uncomfortable for them. By covering all bare soil in your flower beds with fine-grained sand or placing cardboard over it on the ground, you can make it more challenging for cats to dig up your plants.
Subtlety plants that emit scents that cats dislike can also help naturally deter cats, such as lavender, rosemary, scaredy cat plant (Rue and Lemon Thyme are effective options), rue and lemon thyme.
Orange or lemon peels have long been touted as an effective method for keeping cats out of gardens, while simultaneously providing natural fertilizer to plants.