How do I keep my cat out of my garden???

She keeps digging in my new mulch.I think I read somewhere something they don't like to cross it hurts there feet.Not boards with nails either.lol.I have 43+ Acres and she just has to walk out in my new garden,she's broken a casa blanca lily already.I was about to ground her to the house,but she would drive me insane and be walking on the cabinettes knocking stuff over if I didn't let her outside.Thanks,Jody

I don't know if this will help you. I use it for pets that lie down in the garden. Poke plastic knives or forks into the soil (sharp side up) about 8" apart.

Jody- scatter mothballs! You will have to put down new ones every so often, especially after a good rain or if you water a lot. But it works like a charm. I have also heard citrus peels work but that has never done anything for me. The other one is any type of chili powder- anything hot. Again, you have to re-apply if it rains. I still think mothballs are the best bet though. And don't get the expensive little boxes- a huge bag/box of the cheap ones does just fine. Good luck!

Edited to say that those "scarecrows" may be a good investment. It's basically a motion sensored sprinkler and if someone or something triggers it, they get shot with a nice blast of water! I think they are mainly intended to repel deer but work on dogs, cats and I suspect people, as well. :)

Jamie

This message was edited May 17, 2005 9:44 PM

I don't usually feel comfortable about disagreeing profoundly with another posters opinion or advice but I have to comment on the mothballs.Do not use them. The chemicals in them can cause kidney failure, liver failure, serious neurological problems including brain lesions and many other health problems. In some cases it can mimic the confusion of Altzheimers or senility. That is the effect on you. It can absolutelly kill your cat or other pets not to mention the wildlife. The primary culprit is napthalene. The Scarecrow water canon works just fine. You can also lay down chicken wire. Cats don't like walking on it. Jessamine

Thanks everyone for the great ideas.Water by motion detector,like that idea.
I heard they don't like sticky.I thought about putting down duct tape.????Might work.
Jessamine,
Thanks for the heads up.I'm not big on to many chemicals.
Thanks,Jody

Jody, please take this seriously. First, teach the cat to read words and then when you are confident that she has learnt, you can put up a board "Entry to cats is banned in this garden". You can also put "damages will not be tolerated" *Wink*

Dinu

Jessamine-

I had never heard that before! I take no offense to someone disagreeing with me or pointing out things I don't know... that's how we learn afterall. :) I have always used mothballs and never had a problem but it doesn't mean they don't occur. Thanks for the warning. For me, chicken wire is too big a nusiance. I can't dig or weed around it easily and it's hard to keep covered up with mulch (I don't like the way it looks). I do have it on one strip that my dogs are NOT banned from to keep them from digging but I only have shrubs in that area so I don't "mess around" there too much and it's ok. But I do have to keep replinishing the mulch to keep that ugly silver wire from showing! LOL! I think the main problem with the water scarecrow is the cost- I didn't realize they were almost $100 until I looked into getting one a few months ago.

Dinu- I'm quite certain that if the cat successfully learned to read, he/she would turn up it's nose and disregard the warning... like they do everything else. Ha!

Jamie

I use the plastic forks & knives around my little plants until they get established and are big enough that the cats try to go around them. But sometimes the cats just aren't thinking. One time I caught Max smack in the middle of my large Candytuft doing his business. He got scrammed for that. Then two days later, did it downstairs on a blanket. I think he must have been having a bad week because it was completely out of his character and he hasn't done it since.

Jamie, I forgot that they would even disregard the signs meant for them. Well said!

I too tried to put some pointed objects around the plants that needed protection and it seemed to work - but my case was of a rodent called bandicoot that is nocturnal. Cats too loiter around my garden - there are 2-3 from the neighbourhood. They try to enter the house through any openings and find the kitchen where milk is kept [we don't keep them in the fridge unless it is very hot... to prevent it from curdling, we boil it more than twice a day]. These cats are good in controlling other pests and insects/reptiles. We have the chameleon too. Light chicken mesh too would help in keeping them away, better than using signboards!

Dinu

HI, there is a product- I think in Gardeners Supply-that you put down and it looks like it has rubber spikes to discourage strolling about. Don't know the cost. It seems that the plastic knives and forks would do the same thing.

Marcia,
I'm on the way to their website.I wonder if i could make something cheaper though.I'll take a look at it maybe I can come up with an idea.Thanks,Jody

Marcia,
I'm on the way to their website.Found it
http://www.gardeners.com/Shopping/sell.asp?ProdGroupID=11687&DeptPGID=19688&lstCategory=0&RecGroupNum=2
I wonder if I could make something cheaper much,much cheaper.Any Ideas will be appreciated.Thanks,Jody
It probably costs them 5 cents to make them.lol.

Marcia,
Found it
http://www.gardeners.com/Shopping/sell.asp?ProdGroupID=11687&DeptPGID=19688&lstCategory=0&RecGroupNum=2
I wonder if I could make something cheaper much,much cheaper.Any Ideas will be appreciated.Thanks,Jody
It probably costs them 5 cents to make them.lol.

Marcia, the plastic forks and knives would work just as well as the gardeners.com product. The forks and knives could be free if you save them from your next reunion or church picnic! (As I've said before, "Since DH retired our motto is, it's got to be cheap of free, preferrably free!")

Barbur-yes I do think they would work just as well. I always wash and re-use the plastic stuff. Can't see tossing it away. So useful for doing art, garden and other stuff including eating. Interspersing the shorter, sharper forks (if you have the more expensive stuff) would (I think) make the feline stroll unpleasant. I often use the catalogs for ideas..like those plastic cloches for plants (look like take out dinner plastic to me--also jugs..and the $$!!!

Thanks girls,plastic forks it is.heehee Jody

I have lots of wild roses around here, with long straight lenghts. The areas my cat frequents gets a few pieces laid down on top of the mulch. I also lay them in my catmint when its small to prevent Ms. Cleo from rolling in it. They are almost the same color as the mulch once they have dried out, my plant growth camoflages them well, are easily moved in order to weed, they are free, and totally organic. In some of my beds I use pieces of garden art: a small cleaned root ball, broken pot, old watering can with a mint growing in it, driftwood, a brick, a stone, etc. I've also noticed my cat tends to avoid my herb garden. I'm going to start a little experiment to see if she doesn't like some of them. I already interplant herbs in order to chase pests, and she is often just that.

I like the plastic fork idea, but new plastics are formulated to rapidly decompose in landfills. I would hesitate to use them near plants intended for food use. Although, a collection of yard sale/flea market junk flatware would be really cool looking, and very funny in a veggie garden.

-=LuLu

LOL!!! I was just about to say the rose canes! It works for my Casey -eventhough I don't let him out her GETS out frequently (he usually ahs a 2 or 4 year old co-hort).

I used to buy those sharp sticks used for making kabobs and poke them around special seedlings etc. Then I started using old branches on the soil while it was soft and fluffy. Cats are a major problem around here too.

I cover baby seedlings with wire. Special lilies have wire tubes around them till they have grown a couple of feet. This is for cats, abundant bunnies and @#$% squirrels.

Inanda

I have wild roses and blackberries,I never thought to put them out there.Great Idea.
Forks in the veggie garden very convenient,all you need is your dressing.LOL.
Jody

Has anyone asked Jdee? She has to know how to solve this problem cause of all her kitties. Is she on vacation yet?

Saint

I'm afraid I've given up keeping the cats out of my garden. I just scoop it like I do the litter box indoors. So far, they've never ruined any plants by lying on them. The pay not attention at all to my catnip. Go figure.

I also used to buy herbal sachets from a lady in VT "not here kitty". I wonder if she is still around...

LuLuLocks,
I wonder what was in them,also heard they don't like citris.
Maybe she'll use a kitty litter box with a lid outside(to keep out the rain,
If I knew she would I'd buy her one.lol.Jody

I'm going to see if I still have any of her stuff around, with label. I'll let you know as soon as I can. I seem to recall them being citrusy....maybe spike, and lavender as well. Since I have lavender, lemon balm, and lemon thyme, that could be my deterrent there.

-Lu

Hummmmm!
Jody

Jody.........Although I do not have cats, I have two big 100 lb German Shephard's that love to lay in my flowers when I first put in my annuals, I suspect they like the feel of the mulch warm in the sun....and I know this is work, but I keep a sharp eye on them for a week or so, reminding them to "GET OUTTA MY FLOWERS"....they usually get it after a week of reputation.....


I agree with Jessamine....mothballs are not good especially if you have animals....

Deann

You could
1. Get a dog
but then you'll be picking up more doodoo and dealing with more digging

2. Suck it up and realize the more you fight them, the more times they win.

My MIL has an ongoing battle with the neighborhood cats that love her garden for their very own smorgasboard (she feeds birds). So each year she loses the battle and ends up picking up the poo, complaining about the digging, etc. I've tried to tell her that there is no way she'll win (as I am owned three cats myself, I can attest that they ALWAYS get you back). She has tried EVERYTHING, except the dog and getting her own cat. I don't have a cat poo problem as my three dogs love to eat cat poo. As for digging, well perhaps the kittie will get bored.

My young dog, however has just started to dig up my strawberries and tried to dig up my new lilac. I told her no, No , NO,NO,NO. Then three seconds after I turned my back, she was back at it. I have thus fenced it off using those cheap little plastic edgers.

Let us know if anything works.

I know someone asked about keeping cats out of plant beds I looked for the thread but I'm dead tired and I'm just posting the info I found in a magazine I purchased today here. I don't know if this works, if anyone has tried it please add to the info.

(this is the info in Easy-Care Landscaping Mag)

Prevent Pet Damage
The scented coleus gives off an order that is highly offensive to animals yet bland to people. Plants have attractive thick, silvery leaves and blue blossoms. Look for them under the names Scardy Cat, Dog's Gone, at most garden centers

Hope this helps ya'll


http://www.dogs-gone.com

Saint




This message was edited May 28, 2005 1:41 PM

This message was edited May 28, 2005 1:42 PM

Mobi,
I have 8 dogs.I know I'm crazy but you can't just leave them standing on the sides of the roads.LOL.My dogs are split into 2 different yards.Back yard dogs,killed two of my cats,keep a hot wire around the inside of the fence now.
There will be No More Cat Killing here over my dead body.I've had yeller for 10 yrs. now sure don't want anything bad to happen to her.
I'm going with option #2.LOL.
Darn dogs can hear the voles/moles and will dig a 3 foot hole straight down,they get them though.They killed rat a month ago.A big one.It was probably living in the barn and since all the hay is gone now,waiting for our first cut.I guess it didn't have anything to eat and tried to make it to the dog food in the back yard.Opps.Rat wasn't thinking.
Back to my cat,She seems to be staying out of there now,put down some nugget mulch,I don't think she likes the big chunks.lol.
Jody

Here's the nugget mulch I'm putting down.

My dogs love my cats so sometimes I'll have 3 dogs and 3 cats out in the yard at once. So even #1 doesn't work for me. As long as the cats don't run everything is fine. When I got my first greyhound our cat decided to run in the back yard - big mistake. You could tell he thought he was so cool. Then he looked up and saw her right over him - The look on his face was "HOLY %^$#". THEN he RAN for his LIFE. She was good, though, she just gave one big lick down his entire back, as if to say "I could have eaten you if I wanted to". She was happy as can be that she told him what for. He was shaken, wet and unhurt. He NEVER ran in the yard again, though he does wander around in it.

My cats lay in my cat mint and everyonce in a while will tear a small plant up but this is their entire world so I just plant something else.

Well "white cat," the neighborhood stray (one of them anyway) digs and poops in my flowerbed. He used to stay out, but that little bugger figured out that for some magic reason (invisible fence in actuality) my BIG dogs will NOT chase him into my beds. They just stop at the edge of the lawn. So they stand at the edge of the grass and bark their heads off. Well, Willis does anyway. Apollo could care less. And white cat does his business, totally ignoring them. My cats are indoor only and the dogs don't intimidate them either. Not AT ALL. :)

Well, you CAN'T keep the cat out of the garden!
They know that your territory is theirs! Cats rule!!!

As in the picture posted, I had, earlier in the spring, planted some zinnias, cosmos, glads., and blue salvia underneath where my "Ruffles" is laying.
She lays everywhere I seem to have planted the new plants and seeds. So I have to just live with it all and hope the flowers will either survive or next year maybe plant bigger size plants.

Ha Daisy! Even that look on her face says "what did I tell you about this 'planting' nonsense? I'm NOT having it lady!" :)

My dogs motto "If it can't survive in my garden, it has no business being here!"

I'm afraid we are not giving Jodyc any advice that is going to do anything much about keeping the kitty out. Sorry, but as for pest, I mean pets, they seem to think that it's their garden and what are we doing there anyway.

Mobi........You have the same problem too, huh......my two german shephards still have not figured out they are dogs yet....

Deann

LOL.
Jody

Ruffles is so cute. But texasgarden is right. She does have that "What are you up to now, and how much of a problem is it going to be for me look.

My little kitty Gizzy "helps" me by pulling up my seedlings.

This message was edited May 29, 2005 5:20 PM

Ruffles is my baby! LOL! Oh, she is a sweetie but a typical cat. If she doesn't want to do it, she won't.
Her sister helps me by digging her potty in where I had planted carrots and beans in the vegetable garden! The only spot that I didn't cover with rocks, landscape fabric, wood chunks, and she still found that spot.
In my new dahlia bed, I have had to lay down a piece of plastic fencing, 4' wide, along with some Doug fir boughs from my Christmas tree. It is all a pain in the neck. But once the plants get established, it is no problem. It is just the pre- and during time that is a headache.
But I love my kitties so I have to put up with them and just yell at them at times to "Get out of there!"
Carol