Save your garden from cat

We love our gardens and, unfortunately, it seems like all the neighborhood cats love it, too. If you notice cats using your garden as a litter box lol, or gnawing on some of your plants, you are probably all too eager to figure out how to keep those frisky felines out. You can choose to create aphysical barrier, make your garden unpleasant to cats, or scare them away. If all else fails, you can try to make peace and strike a truce with thecat by giving its own area to use

Creating a Physical Barrier Create an obstacle course out of plastic forks or wooden chopsticks.If cats do not have enough room to move around, scratch, and dig, they will seek another area for a litter box work. Insert plant spikes, forks, chopsticks, or similar materials,Make it sure that the sticks or equivalent materials are inserted to a depth of a few inches into the soil so that they will stay upright.The points on these utensils are not sharp enough to cause any real damage, but they can be enough of a deterrent to discourage your feline friends from lounging about.
Embed chicken wire in the soil.Lay standard chicken wire (availablefrom hardware stores) down before your plants poke through the soil. Plants can usually grow in between the gaps, but cats will find the texture of the wiring unpleasant to walk on. The chicken wire will be soft enough not to hurt the cats, but strong enough to discourage them from digging in your garden.sometimes plants need additional room to grow, you can use wire cutters to cutlarger holes directly above the plants needing more room.As an alternative to chicken wire, you can lay plastic sheeting designed for use in gardens.Lay lattice fencing over the ground.Lay the lattice fencing over your soil before you even plant your seeds. Thegaps in the fencing will make the areaunappealing to wandering cats

Press the lattice fencing into the ground gently so that it is partially covered by the soil.Transplant seedlings and plant seeds into the soil exposed by the gaps of the fencing. Over time, manycommon garden plants should grow around the fencing without much difficulty.Cover the soil with uncomfortable material.Cats will not like to dig in or play on rough surfaces. You can coverareas of your yard with a thin layer of safe materials like.Rough-textured mulch.Prickly pinecones.Pebbles and stones

Cover exposed ground with "scat mats." Scat mats (available at gardensupply stores) are plastic mats covered in flexible plastic spikes.The spikes are soft enough not to hurtcats, but they will not like the texture and will keep away.Depending on the brand, you will usually find the mats in packages of 2 to 5 mats. Generally, these mats are cut into four pieces, making it easy to fit the mat to size according to the size and needs of your garden.

Do not merely lay the mats on the surface of the soil. You need to press the mats into the soil so that the mat itself is covered, leaving only the spikes exposed. Otherwise, a clever cat can paw the mat up.

Create a barrier fence.
Cats are persistent, and able to squeeze into many places. However, a 6 feet (1.8 m) high chain-link fence, with 2 by 2 inches (5.1 by 5.1 cm) mesh can be effective at keeping cats out of your garden. A 2 ft (0.61 m) overhang can provide additional protection.7Use a low-voltage wire.An electricfence surrounding your garden can effectively keep cats out of it. As long as it is low-voltage, it will not harm the cats, only drive them away. The fence can be raised about 4 inches (10 cm) from the ground and still discourage them from entering your garden.Look for electric fencing at hardwareor home supply stores. Carefully follow all installation and safety instructions.Keep children away from electric fencing.AdvertisementMethod Two of Four:Detering Cats with the Power of Scent1Plant potent-smelling plants.Cats do not like certain plants, and will stay away from them. Planting them will make the entire area seem disgusting to the local feline population. Try cultivating one or more of these plants near your garden, interspersed among your garden plants, or in other areas of your yard that you do not want cats todisturb.Lavender,Rue,Geranium,Absinthe,Lemon thyme,Thorny roses,Coleus canina, also known as “Scaredy Cat Plant”

Use dried herbs or scented oils.If you do not want to plant herbs or other plants that cats cannot stand, you could scatter dried versions or sprinkle essential oils derived from these plants around your garden for the same effect.

Dried rue and lavender are available online or in some garden supply stores. Essential oils of lavender, lemon grass, citronella, citrus, and eucalyptus can be found in some supermarkets or health and beauty stores.You can also try rubbing essential oils on the edges of containers that you have plants in.If you cannot find these herbs or oils, you can achieve a similar effectby sprinkling cayenne pepper in the same way that you would dried herbs

Scatter citrus peels around the garden.some cats hate the smell of citrus. A quick and easy fix isto scatter fresh or dried peels of lemons, oranges, grapefruits or other citrus fruits over the soil of your garden. The cats will not suffer any harm, but the smell will cause them toseek a more appealing area.

Try somw coffee grounds or pipe tobacco.Much like citrus, the smells of coffee and tobacco are disgusting to most cats. Simply scatter a thin layer of coffee grounds or tobacco directly onto the soil. However, keep in mind that coffee grounds are toxic to cats and dogs.

Spray a commercial repellent containing predator urine.Cat deterrent sprays are available at many garden supply stores. Look for a “natural” one that contains an ingredient like the urine of foxes or other predatory animals.These products contain natural ingredients that may deter other animals such as squirrels and rabbits. Always follow the instructions for use very carefully.