http://www.care2.com/greenliving/keeping-cats-out-of-the-garden.html
Keeping Cats Out of the Garden
By Cait Johnson, Assistant Producer, Healthy Living Channels
We love our next-door neighbor, but I think she’s trying to tell us something: She put moth balls all along the line between your yards, I guess to keep our kitties out of her garden. But moth balls are toxic!
Here are several easy, safe, and effective ways to deter cats from using your neighbor’s garden as a litter box, but, unlike moth balls, they don’t pose a health hazard to cats or humans. Or, heck, you could do what my boss suggested and try releasing a whole herd of gophers or mice. Then your kitties will be the guests of honor! (Just kidding!)
1. There are many herbs that cats don’t like to be around, including lavender, rue, geranium, absinthe, and lemon-thyme. Also, a German professional gardener, Dieter Stegmaier of Essingen, has created a hybrid so repulsive to cats, they stay a yard away from it. It smells like schnapps to us, and is actually a pretty and hardy plant with blue flowers that bloom throughout most of the summer. Its Latin name is Coleus canin. You can order it through various mail order services in Germany, for example here:
here.
2. This mixture is easy to make and can be used anywhere you want to repel cats (or groundhogs, for that matter):
2 parts cayenne pepper
3 parts dry mustard
5 parts flour
Simply mix together and sprinkle.
3. Use large flat river stones in your garden beds to make the soil less diggable, and so less attractive to cats. Besides, river stones are pretty. You can also use them in houseplant pots to keep the furry little darlings out of those.
4. Cats don’t like tea leaves, so empty your used ones onto the garden soil.
5. You could also try using a sprinkler that is activated by a motion-sensor. All it takes is a time or two of getting dowsed with water to deter any cat. It can work for intruders, too.
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38 comments
add your comment »i just kept my cat in the house:)
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why is this inappropriate?
Cayenne Pepper;no
Tea leaves, yes
They work well
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why is this inappropriate?
I tried everything to keep cats out of my garden. The neighbors have four and they just kept coming over to use my raised beds as a toilet.
I finally opted for a motion activated sprinkler. My review is on www.swissbeets.com . Here in the U.S. there's a couple sprinkler brand options but I opted for the most popular one.
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I found using an ultrasonic cat deterrent covering the main part of the garden and security strips along the fences keeps the cats out. There are also lion pellets available in the UK which act as a good deterrent. www.cat-deterrent.co.uk for other ideas!
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Hi Teresa,
I don't like cats either. They are unfriendly, aloof and think they are better than you. I would not however put anything on my garden that would harm them. As for wolf and fox manure, we don't have wolves in England and I don't think anyone has yet commercialised foxes poo for gardens.
Frederick, England.
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What is your opinion on the fox or wolf manure used to deter cats from the garden? By the way I don't like cats in my garden because the urine gets in my edibles; herbs and vegetables and it is just toxic and smells terrible.
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Beth, you are right. I live in a neighborhood where there are lots of cats, I have four cats myself and all is ok. Why would I keep them out of my garden ? My cats invite some others to have lunch at home and although I do not allow other cats in the house, sometimes I hide and see one of mine inviting her boyfriend to have lunch at home, it is lovely to observe.
There is also a very thin wandering cat coming every morning at the same time begging for food and I give him something every day. All these cats do not harm the plants in my garden nor the birds, moles, hedgehogs living in it. The only thing is that sometimes they catch a mouse but this is normal for cats.
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Hey what is all this about? Since when do we need to keep cats out of a garden? And why would anyone want to use something even if it is all natural to repel a cat that would burn their eyes or their sense of smell? So let's go back to the original question. What is this all about? As a responsible owner ( and I assume I am not the only one ) I agree with my vet that cats do not roam about freely in the neighborhood. Mainly for their protection and mine. If anyone ever hurt one of my cats I would go ballistic. Therefor my cats go out on field trips on a leash. No dogs, cars, or horrid little wannabe serial killers preying on them.
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Hi Roger W.
Using pepper and cayenne mixture is not a good idea which I have mentioned before as it could damage cats eyes. Unless of course you don't care about that!
Bob Newholm England.
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Two questions about the mustard-cayenne mixture: 1. How long is it effective? 2. What does rain do to it? I'd appreciate any feedback on this.
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