If your cat enjoys exploring flower beds, using simple yet effective strategies such as safe odor deterrents or motion activated sprinklers could help deter their visits. These measures could include safe physical deterrents such as sprinklers.
Arrange prickly pine cones and nut shells to deter cats; they don’t like walking on rough surfaces. Spread orange or lemon peels over the soil surface to repel cats while acting as fertilizer for your garden!
Spray Bottle
Spraying cats with water when they invade your flower garden can be effective at discouraging them from further invading. Motion-activated sprinklers that detect cats may even trigger them and release a short burst of water on them without having to manually activate the device yourself.
Attack their sense of smell – Cats can be dissuaded from entering a flower bed by using something they find unpleasant, such as scent repellants. Ammonia works well as an ammonia-based repellent and may even be available commercially; alternatively you could fill jars with dilute ammonia solution and place them strategically throughout the bed for extra deterrence.
Pepper can also serve as a deterrent, and should be mixed into a spray bottle and applied accordingly. Sprinkling black or cayenne pepper on flower beds will work, although you may need to apply additional coatings over time.
Sprinkler System
Felines can damage flower beds by digging up soil to make holes they use as litter boxes. You can drive away these felines without harming them using nontoxic techniques.
Sprinklers equipped with motion detectors can help deter cats from entering your garden, available at most garden centers and hardware stores.
Plastic chicken wire or fruit cage netting can also help deter cats from accessing your flower bed. While not aesthetically pleasing, this form of protection does its job.
If your neighbor’s cat keeps invading your flower beds, inquire about free trap-neuter-release programs to reduce nuisance behaviors like fighting, spraying and yowling. This could reduce nuisance behaviors like fighting, spraying or yowling that arise as a result.
Tape
As surprising as it sounds, tape can actually help deter cats from entering your flower garden. Use masking tape or duct tape to make small “cling-ons” and place them around urns or window boxes that cats have turned into lookout posts; when cats jump up to these cling-ons they will likely be surprised and may not know where their landing point will be; this method is nontoxic, cheap and highly effective!
Attack their sense of smell. By adding scents that cats don’t enjoy smelling, such as orange or lemon peels, essential oils or fabric softener sheets that they find unpleasant, you can disrupt their comfort zone and prevent them from spending time camping out in your flower beds.
Physical Barriers
Some cats prefer spending their days indoors lazing on window sills, but others enjoy exploring their environment. To stop your cat from venturing outside and into flower beds and other parts of your garden, create physical barriers to block their access.
Chicken wire fencing and homemade barriers constructed of branches or twigs cut from wire coat hangers make an effective barrier. Ground cover plants with sharp leaves such as holly leaves or perennial geraniums may also deter cats.
Planting pungent plants such as lavender, rosemary and the scaredy cat plant are effective deterrents for cats; catnip plants planted elsewhere in your yard may further serve to discourage visits by cats by activating their opioid reward system and dissuading them from visiting your flowers.
Cat-Attracting Plants
Add plants that cats don’t like into your garden to keep them away. Some emit strong scents that make cats flee, such as nepeta (catmint), lavender, rosemary, Russian sage lemon thyme and rue; while other have thorns or sharp leaves to deter nibbling felines such as sea holly or globe thistle.
Pine cones, sticks and nut shells can serve as useful barriers. Cats tend to dislike walking on rough surfaces so beds covered with them tend to be avoided by them. Another natural barrier would be placing strips of chicken wire underneath mulch or seedbeds – it won’t harm cats if they happen to walk over it!
Water
Cats can cause significant damage in your yard. While deterring them may seem impossible, there are steps you can take to keep cats out of your garden.
One simple strategy to frighten cats away is with water. Cats do not like being exposed to being sprayed with liquid, so using a spray bottle with water as the forceful alternative can be successful in frightening them away.
Another option for keeping cats away is creating physical barriers. Netting is one method, but you could also try placing pine cones, twigs or any other sharp objects around the plant as these will likely discourage cats from walking on it. Cats typically dislike walking on rough surfaces so this might deter them.