Plants to deter cats from using garden as loo [angry emoticon]

[NomDePlume]

My other thread about shrubs reminded me of this question too, so...

I have a lovely new raised herb bed (about 8 x 6 feet) which contains, mint (planted in buried terracotta pots), basil, thyme and rosemary. My cat has a tendency to use the lovely new feature as his own personal convenience. Obv I shoo him away if I catch him in the act, but ideally I want to stop him doing it altogether.

I plan to plant french lavender in a low hedge next to the bed and I'm hoping that the strong smell with deter him, but is there anything else I can plant alongside that will 'turn him off' ?

Thanks again !

Have you got any rose bushes or anything else with thorns? Use the prunings from these on the bed & it stops them. Not sure about any plants that will work though.

I dug my thorny roses out, as my washing kept getting caught on them. Plus the fact that my 2yr old was trying to tough the pretties (flowers) and I was afraid she'd snag herself on them.

I mean, 'touch the pretties'

I'm sure I read somewhere that growing catminit deters them from using that spot as a toilet. Since they like rubbing through the catmint, they don't want to use the area as a loo.

Monty Don was on Radion 2 on Wednesday night and was asked this question: he suggested soaking a couple of tea bags in essential oil (tea tree and/or lavendar - I would also consider a citrus one, as they don't like that either, apparently) and submerging that in the soil where the cat has been digging.

I've heard that planting garlic pods also deters them. Not sure if it would make all your herbs garlicy though...

Or you could put skewers in the soil so that it is 'uncomfortable' for them to go there. Same as the rose bushes though, could be dangerous for children

Coffe grounds are meant to work - cheap solution if you drink lots of fresh coffee. Can also buy stuff in garden centre called 'cat stop' i think it's safe for kids and other pets. The make is 'growing sucsess' and smells very strongly of garlic.

What about making a small 'cat toilet' somewhere in the garden where your dd can't go? If you used something which appealed to cats and at the same time made your herb bed less appealing, perhaps it would work. Maybe gravel, or cat litter initially if the cat's used to that.

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Well, Silent Roar works for me! You must have some big, brave cats round your way Twiglett!

Bet the windmills look pretty anyway.

Shoot them with a pump action water gun, Twiglett!

What about one of those black metal cat shapes with glass stones for eyes? They're supposed to work...

Alternatively, you can get noise makers to scare away the cats that only cats can hear - maybe called Cat Chaser. Some you can get where you can change the setting for dogs, rats, etc.

i've read that moth balls work,cats hate them and also putting kitchen foil cats don't like walking on it,i don't know how would you keep it in place or if you have a huge garden it'll be a pain putting kitchen foil all over the borders but the moth balls might be worth trying

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NomdePlume, this might not help you as it's your own cat, but Twiglett - we found the only way to keep cats from using our flowerbeds to poo in was to buy a cat scarer. It needs batteries and you stick it in the ground and it has a motion detector and emits a high pitched sound each time movement sets it off. You can't hear it yourself but cats hate it. I bought ours in a garden centre, but they're not cheap. Think it might have been £20-£30 (was years ago, can't remember). The batteries do wear out quickly though if you use the garden a lot yourself so have to remember to turn it off when you're out in the garden.

We had previously tried all the cat detering pellets you can buy and none of them worked, some even seemed to encourage the cats (garlicky smelling ones).

MMmmm I thought cats didn't poo in their own back yards - no! they all gravitate to my garden! Methinks I will be reaching for the Silent Roar, although the pump action water gun sounds more my style

Someone suggested catmint to deter them - if your cats are anything like mine and the two next door, catmint or catnip will be a waste of time as they won't just rub around it, they will eat it - every last twig.

But they won't poo in the herb garder

They will once they've eaten all the catnip!!!

Finely chop orange or lemon peel and sprinkle - needs replacing every 4-5 days - but they leran after 3-4 weeks

There are plants you can buy (annuals) from, I think, Thompson and Morgan, which are supposed to repel cats. I haven't yet tried them, so can't report back, but I'm v tempted.

Another thing I've heard is Olbas oil on teabags (similar to former essential oil idea; and I'm about to try spreading teasels on the ground - similar to rose pruning idea. They're supposed to not like cocoa shell mulch either, becos it's a bit spiky to walk on. It's certainly great as a mulch.

I'm not sure about plants tbh, but if you have any roses, trim them down and use the real thorny bits in between your herbs ... once they've stood on those, they won't venture there again

ive heard of a few things that deter cats...something which apparently emits a high pitched sound they really dont like (sorry dont know the name), citrus, pepper powder (around the herbs i imagine not on them! ) and my vet told me that a cat will not poo/spray anywhere near their food so perhaps that may be worth a try (cat food i mean not catnip as that tends to send mine loopy)

Thanks for these

I just sprinkle house hold pepper on the plants and soil, works a treat!