Cats are known to frequent flower beds, where they will dig up soil, chew on the plants, and urinate on them. A combination of safe odor and physical deterrents may help keep cats at bay from your garden so you can spend your weekends tending your flowers instead of dealing with cat issues!
Simply scatter dry cayenne pepper around areas you want to prevent cats from visiting, or use a water squirt bottle with some liquid to frighten away cats when they enter your yard or garden.
Make the Ground Textured or Rough
Have you spent hours cultivating a garden you appreciate, only for it to become the playground and litter box of neighborhood cats? Unfortunately, pet, feral or stray cats love lounging around in its cool soil while digging up flowers and other plants!
Make the ground less attractive to cats by spreading coarse-textured mulch such as gravel, pine bark or shredded cardboard that has an unpleasant feel for cats’ paws and noses.
One way to make your garden less inviting for cats is to plant dense and woody shrubs in areas you would like them to avoid. Cats tend to avoid areas which feel uncomfortable on their paws.
Vinegar spray or other natural deterrents such as citrus peel can also help your garden be cat-proof, such as soaking cutlery in vinegar to give off an offensive odor which drives away cats.
Install Netting
Netting can be an effective solution to keep cats out of your flower garden. It works especially well if you want to protect a specific area; simply purchase plastic chicken wire or fruit cage netting and stretch it over garden beds so as to stop cats entering permanently or temporarily; making harvesting and maintaining plants much simpler!
Other options to keep cats away from your garden include using water hose spraying with non-toxic, gentle streams to dissuade cats. You could also purchase commercial cat deterrents, provided they’re safe for both the environment and plants.
If a neighborhood cat is digging up your flowers and gardening, talk to your neighbors and consider calling a shelter or rescue group in order to humanely capture and spay/neuter it to eliminate unwanted behaviors such as fighting, spraying, yowling and producing kittens.
Don’t Feed the Cats
Cat-friendly gardens don’t mean gardens without cats; but if your outdoor flower bed has become the scene of feline destruction, try some safe deterrents such as physical and odor deterrents; these could include plants and scents to prevent unwanted behaviors like digging, scratching, chewing or napping in flowerbeds.
Felines can be extremely sensitive to smell, and some aromas such as those found in spices, herbs and plants can evoke strong reactions in them. According to Lewis, you can use scented oil sprays that include lavender, sage, peppermint, eucalyptus or lemongrass scents to deter cats from your garden – available at most gardening centers or hardware stores.
Another simple strategy to help prevent cats from hanging out in your flower garden or other locations where you see them is laying carpet runners with spiked sides down. Plastic spikes won’t hurt them but make them uncomfortable; or you could use something like CatScat that has long, flexible plastic spikes which won’t harm them but will still get their attention.
Cat-Repelling Plants
There are a variety of non-toxic strategies to deter cats from your flower garden. Certain plants emit aromas that are unpleasant for cats while others offer physical defenses like coarse textures or other physical barriers that deter their entry. By combining both methods together, cats may seek other places for hunting, mating, toileting and napping.
Plants like curry and lemon balm with their pungent aroma can help deter cats from your flower beds. Not only are these fast-growing herbs beautiful and easy to cultivate in many types of soil, they’re also highly attractive!
Donning masking or duct tape over the ground is another easy way to deter cats from entering your flower garden, as its sharp, sticky surface will deter cats. There is also an affordable commercial product known as Cat Scat Mat that features plastic mesh with 3/4″ spikes laid directly onto the ground for added protection.