Cats can be an extremely destructive force in garden spaces. From digging up flowers and uprooting entire planters, to destroying plant material and littering the area around your flowers beds, cats can quickly wreck your garden in no time!
As there are both physical and odor deterrents available to keep cats away from flower gardens, incorporate pungent plants such as lavender, rosemary and the scaredy cat plant (Coleus caninus or Plectranthus caninus) into your landscape to repel cats.
Plants That Deter Cats
Cats often dig up flower beds to prepare a space to defecate, which can damage soil quality and kill off plants. To keep cats away, grow plants that emit an unpleasant odor or texture cats find unpleasant or put up barriers around your flowers and shrubs to block access to these spaces.
Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is a perennial herb with a pungent scent that deters animals, including cats. Furthermore, it grows easily across climates and soil conditions. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) features an unpleasant prickly texture which deters cats while providing humans with an appealing savory taste they enjoy.
Plants with dense, woody stems or berries tend to repel cats, as do prickly surfaces like pine needles or chicken wire. To make your flower garden less inviting to cats, cover bare areas with materials like holly leaves, pine needles or chicken wire; alternatively mulch it thickly or drive sticks or skewers into the ground to create an uncomfortable surface for cats to walk on.
Cat-Repellent Plants
Some herbs and flowers have long been known to repel cats with their fragrant aromas and unpleasant flavors, while some, such as Ruta europaea (common rue), have even been discovered to deter insects.
Other plants, like coleus (Coleus canina) and pelargonium (Pelargonium graveolens), can also be used as commercial cat repellent sprays and granules, often combined with citrus oils and garlic for more effective repellents.
Another natural way to keep cats out of your garden is to sprinkle a generous dose of cayenne pepper around the areas you wish to protect, or use products based on vinegar that cats abhor. If a cat attempts to dig in your plants, simply spray some water onto it; soon enough they’ll realize they won’t be getting away with anything and seek somewhere else for entertainment.
Cat-Repellent Scents
Cats possess an acute sense of smell despite not possessing the 5 million olfactory receptors present in human noses. Knowing which smells cats dislike will allow pet parents to employ natural, nontoxic solutions in order to deter felines from their flower gardens or other areas they want feline-free zones of their yard.
Attracting cats without damaging plants or soil is easy when using chopped citrus peel and cayenne pepper as repellents, while you can purchase ozone machines that emit ultrasonic sounds at high frequencies that they find highly annoying – this type of device is available both indoors and outdoors.
Make a homemade cat repellent using ingredients you may already have at home such as vinegar, peppercorns, garlic cloves and eucalyptus oil (but avoid calico sprays which contain napthalene and are toxic to cats). Or mix equal parts black peppercorns and dry mustard powder with equal parts cinnamon in a 2-ounce spray bottle before adding citronella oil for extra strength to repel cats.
Cat-Repellent Materials
Cats are attracted to loose soil, which they use as litter boxes. Reducing their exposure by covering it with mulch or gravel or planting ground covers with rough surfaces like holly leaves, ivy or low-growing junipers may help. Another solution would be planting plants with scents cats don’t like; Coleus Canina commonly known as Scardey Cat Coleus and rue are two such examples.
For a longer-term solution, you could erect a physical barrier that discourages cats from entering your area, such as chicken wire. This method works especially well when placed near flower beds to deter digging. For less costly temporary deterrents like scat mats with flexible plastic spikes to frighten but not harm animals as an alternative solution; or use sound, flashing lights or water as deterrents against any unwanted visitors to your garden or lawn area.