CATS!!!!!!

Ok another question for my esteemed colleagues. How do I keep my outdoor cats from using my newly planted flower beds as their litter box??? I know I can put some type of landscape gravel around the roses and peonies in that flower bed but what about my other flower bed that I plan to put big bright flowers such as oriental poppies, coreopsis, etc???? Any ideas (other than getting rid of my kitties) you can come up with for this potential problem??? Are there flowers that repel cats?? Is there a ground cover I can use to keep them out?? HELP!! I don't want to put all this money, time, and effort in only to have it all destroyed by my kitties.

There are billions of spiked balls dropping from sweetgum trees. Find some and put them in your beds. Cats won't walk on them.

Sorry but I don't have any sweetgum trees around my house(or at least I don't think I do) and I really don't have any place to grow one. I also don't know much about them or if they will grow around here.

I have 4 cats ... all indoor cats, but I have a screened pool enclosure that runs the length of the back of the house and my cats love it out there. I used to have a problem with one of the cats using a large planter area for her litter box until I put a couple of inches of cypress mulch in there. Helps keep the moisture in for the plants and the cats don't like digging in it. I've done the same thing with some large potted plants also. For some reason they do not like the mulch and they haven't been digging in years! I would think any kind of bark mulch would work. I would think River Rock or that Marble looking rock would work too .... don't know if it is good for the types of plants you want in your beds though. We have such intense Sun and Heat down here we have to be careful of the plants in beds where Rock is used. Good luck. As much as I love gardening and plants, I can't imagine ever giving one of my "Kitters" away!

Lin

Cypress mulch doesn't deter Edgar. It seems to be his opinion that Mom created giant litter boxes for him outside. At least he's neat when he does his business. Unfortunately, 70-lb. Bailey (golden retriever) thinks Edgar's potty is tasty. When she goes after these "treats," she makes a huge mess and tramples things. In case Bailey misses any, I try to remember Edgar's favorite spots and wear gardening gloves just in case. Previous neighbors have tried moth balls--they don't work and who can stand the smell?

Here are a couple different options (no personal experience with any of them, just things I ran across when looking for gopher repellant)
http://www.gardeners.com/Cat-Stop-Willow-Barrier/default/StandardCatalog.GardenPests_New.35-819.cpd
http://www.gardeners.com/Safe-Cat-Deterrent/default/StandardCatalog.YardPests_DogsCats.31-954.cpd
http://www.gardeners.com/Dog-and-Cat-Repellent/default/StandardCatalog.YardPests_DogsCats.33-848.cpd

Thankyou for all your ideas. I especially liked the ones you suggested ecrane3. I checked out all the hyperlinks and they are all suggested relatively cheap and easy to do ideas! Thanks!

Somrtimes, crushed red pepper works. You do have to re-apply from tome to time.

oldpepper

Find the heavest landscaping material you can find , lay it over the ground around your plants( poke holes in it if you need to. Cats HATE the feel of slippery plastic, if they mess on it just hose it off.

When I prune my roses, I put the canes in the beds that the cats seem to favor. Tamara

I purchased a product called Bitter End at my local PetSmart store. You have to respray about every 10 to 14 days, but it has kept the neighbor's cat out of my garden beds, kept the bunnies out of the garden in general and kept the squirrels out of the birdfeeders (I sprayed it around the bottom of the feeder poles).