Total beginner, planting a cat friendly border

[MrsKingfisher]

I practice Zoopharmacognosy which allows animals to use their innate self meditative abilities.

I have a bare garden, no plants yet just a vast expanse of garden. I'd like to plant a border with things like yarrow, arnica, comfrey, valerian, St. John's wort, calendula the list goes on!

I want to create a lovely border for them to enjoy but I am very new to gardening! Is there a plan I can download to start me off so I know what to plant where and what it will look like?

Ooh I've never heard of Zoopharmacognosy and would love to know more please!

Re planting, well it very much depends on size and shape of your garden! There are lots of garden design plans online, but keep in mind how the weather affects different parts of your garden. Eg - where the sun lands at different times of the day, where the wind tunnels and cold spots are. Most recommend observing your garden over a year to note seasonal fluctuations if you're new to the property.

Obviously no lillies :)

Give thought to how you want to use the space as well - if you want an area to bbq and dine, somewhere more private to relax or sunbathe etc. This is arguably the most important step in garden planning.

Look into the concept of garden 'rooms' which denote different spaces in the plot rather than just one boring space.

If designing for pets I'd also give thought to how they might use the garden, so with cats I'd want to take advantage of sun spots for them to sun bathe in and lots of little hidey places.

Consider vertical and as well as horizontal planting too.

Loads of stuff on Pinterest and in books too.

@TaraR2020

Ooh I've never heard of Zoopharmacognosy and would love to know more please!

Re planting, well it very much depends on size and shape of your garden! There are lots of garden design plans online, but keep in mind how the weather affects different parts of your garden. Eg - where the sun lands at different times of the day, where the wind tunnels and cold spots are. Most recommend observing your garden over a year to note seasonal fluctuations if you're new to the property.

Obviously no lillies :)

Give thought to how you want to use the space as well - if you want an area to bbq and dine, somewhere more private to relax or sunbathe etc. This is arguably the most important step in garden planning.

Look into the concept of garden 'rooms' which denote different spaces in the plot rather than just one boring space.

If designing for pets I'd also give thought to how they might use the garden, so with cats I'd want to take advantage of sun spots for them to sun bathe in and lots of little hidey places.

Consider vertical and as well as horizontal planting too.

Loads of stuff on Pinterest and in books too.

Thank you so much, we've been in the property now for 3 years and finally getting to the garden! It's a 30ft by 40ft garden but a bit of an odd shape. We face north west so we get early morning sun at the bottom of the garden then along the area I'd like to plant during the day.

I'm going to create areas, such as the comfort garden, pain/inflammation garden etc.

Areas they can hide and I have a carpenter who is going to make some wooden domes I can plant cat grass in and they can shade in there, chill out or eat whatever they like, I still want my garden to look contemporary but it's so important to us that they get the enrichment they need.

They love their time when I put out a herb garden for them, it's interesting to see what they choose.

I'm trying to 'visualise' the colours size of plants in each area.

If its an odd shape, you might find it easier to view each distinct shape as well as how the fit together as a whole. I like to visualise the 'flow' of the garden, so I have an entertaining area that flows into a more quieter space and then into a more hidden space that I keep as wild as possible.

Herbs are my favourite things to plant and I'm really attracted to herbal medicine but would never consider doing it for animals. My cats are so perverse that I don't think I'd get very far!

You might find it helpful to keep some things in pots and planters for a while so you can play with positioning and colour wheels are helpful if you're struggling to visualise colour combinations. Again, Pinterest can really help with visualising the space.

The cat domestic sound amazing BTW!

@TaraR2020

If its an odd shape, you might find it easier to view each distinct shape as well as how the fit together as a whole. I like to visualise the 'flow' of the garden, so I have an entertaining area that flows into a more quieter space and then into a more hidden space that I keep as wild as possible.

Herbs are my favourite things to plant and I'm really attracted to herbal medicine but would never consider doing it for animals. My cats are so perverse that I don't think I'd get very far!

You might find it helpful to keep some things in pots and planters for a while so you can play with positioning and colour wheels are helpful if you're struggling to visualise colour combinations. Again, Pinterest can really help with visualising the space.

The cat domestic sound amazing BTW!

Great idea about the pots thank you, as for your cats they may surprise you! Why not put down a few dried herbs on a large towel see if they like anything.

I start mine with marigold, arnica, valerian (which stinks) some lavender and see how they respond. Normally mine will either lick or roll in the one they like then that gives me a sense of what else they need.

My male cat became a bit of a bully to his sister, worked out he felt some pain after he self medicated (he chose wintergreen) had a good sleep he returned to his usual lovely self not had an issue since.

I know it's classed as woo to some but it really isn't, no different to us drinking herbal tea. It's just about allowing them to choose.

Definitely plant them some nepeta. There are lots of kinds, my pair are currently taking it in turns to encourage my N Walkers Low to grow back by rolling all over it. Not helpful.

Here's one of them impersonating a slug.

Thank you so much, will give it a go! Don't suppose you know anything to help with feline stools do you? Greedy Cat (I've posted about him before) does absolute stinkers and they're quite soft/unformed...tried probiotics (made it worse) and better quality cat food (hated it).

Lavender is probably my favourite herb, that and basil, I seem to end up more with more lavender plants every year!

If you can recommend any free and reliable resources I'd be really grateful, just had a look on amazon and the books are a bit too expensive!

@MrsBertBibby

Definitely plant them some nepeta. There are lots of kinds, my pair are currently taking it in turns to encourage my N Walkers Low to grow back by rolling all over it. Not helpful.

Here's one of them impersonating a slug.

Gorgeous cat, Nepeta is on my list! Thank you

**was meant to cat domes not 'domestic' btw, I corrected autocorrect once but it clearly snuk it back when I was posting

@TaraR2020

Thank you so much, will give it a go! Don't suppose you know anything to help with feline stools do you? Greedy Cat (I've posted about him before) does absolute stinkers and they're quite soft/unformed...tried probiotics (made it worse) and better quality cat food (hated it).

Lavender is probably my favourite herb, that and basil, I seem to end up more with more lavender plants every year!

If you can recommend any free and reliable resources I'd be really grateful, just had a look on amazon and the books are a bit too expensive!

Things like Peppermint, nettle leaf, chickweed might help along while chamomile and lavender. Naturally cat has a website that sells small selection packs for all kinds. Whatever your cat chooses will give you some indication of what might be going on. Is there any sort of anxiety?

Caroline Ingraham has some free resources that might help. Lots on zoopharmacognosy if you google. I do a lot of work with horses they are so different to cats and dogs in their selection process. Good luck!

With not while, I wish there was an edit button!

Great, thank you so much there's loads to research there and I really appreciate having some guidance as to where to start.

Yes, he is quite a nervy cat. He's a rescue and we think he was abused by previous owners. He's also genetically deaf and has episodes which were hinted at rescue as brain damage but I think are twitchy-cat syndrome. Underneath his very mercurial moods there's a hidden cuddle-bunny. He'd probably be happiest as the only pet but poor thing had been returned several times, no one wanted him (due to his temperament i think). He just needed time and love.

Will definitely look into those herbs recommendations :)

Try some herbs for both digestion and anxiety and see which he chooses then go from there. If it's something you're interested in it might be worth finding someone in your area to help. Lots of things can help past abuse, linden blossom is lovely for trust issues, you can also get flower waters cornflower water is a really nice way to introduce him to herbs helps them relax. How lucky you found each other!

I have an enclosed garden for my cats. All I will say is do your research before you plant anything. A large majority of plants are toxic to cats. A few you've mentioned already are classed as toxic to cats if ingested such as yarrow and st johns wort. Its a mine field! But it sounds a fab idea, so good luck!

Cats are usually pretty sensible about avoiding things that are bad for them, unlike my idiot dog.

For food try canagan, it transformed ours hunger issues and much better stools and my dog has by far the best poo in the area, I only know this because we have many areshole owners who don’t pick up.

As for the garden, ours love sleeping in the mint, the lavender and the rosemary. They like somewhere to sunbath, so if you have a sunny corner maybe pop a bench in it. Also a nice bush for them to hide under, maybe try a buddleia if you’re not planning on growing cabbages, it attracts butterflies which the cats will enjoy chasing.

Can you upload a sketch of your garden and show what’s already there and where the sun comes?

My only advice is that if you are planting catmint you need to protect it until it is beg enough to resist vigorous rolling! You must avoid bruising the leaves and releasing the irresistible smell otherwise it will be lived to death.

and if you do plant mint, plant it in a pot, or it goes everywhere

Here's a drawing, all of the crosses are where I will be planting the sun is at the bottom and moves around to the right during the day so that whole area will get some sun.

There's so much to do in the garden new patio etc etc

@billybagpuss

and if you do plant mint, plant it in a pot, or it goes everywhere

Thank you!

Ooh, from a aesthetic point of view try and shape the borders a bit or it ends up very square and block looking, I’d put a bush in the triangle corner bit like the buddleia, if there’s a bit that gets the evening sun it’s worth putting a climber like a honeysuckle as the scent in the evening is gorgeous.

The other thing you should consider is herbs that you will use, when I started my garden I had criteria that it either had to be edible or smell lovely, the cats have loved this method, they enjoy sitting under the bean sticks, they like chasing bumblebees and butterflies. They didn’t really worry too much about the edible flowers like the calendula or nasturtium (nasturtiums very easy to grow). They Also like a water source, perhaps a pond in a barrel on the patio.

We're redoing the whole garden, I'd like it to flow and meander and feel peaceful so far it just feels harsh.

Love the Buddleia and pollinators are important too, we'd like to attract the bees and butterflies

I'm thinking would it be ok to have them in pits for now so I can move them around and see what looks best where?

Can you make space for a small pond? You'll support wildlife and cats love to drink the water and watch what's going on in it!

Yes, they’d be quite happy in pots for a while but any shrub that usually grows quite big will want his feet in the ground eventually. For pollinators things like calendula, nasturtium all edible flowers will be very happy in pots