Cats and foxes in the garden - what's worked for you

[WobblyLondoner]

I've always had problems with this - foxes are the current issue, but cats too. There is the poo, obviously, but the main issue is digging holes and disturbing plants in the process. This latter has been a daily issue recently. Anyway, I'm interested in what others have tried.

The main thing that has worked for me is dense planting. They love bare soil. So that is my ultimate strategy!

When I've got patches of bare soil the most effective thing has been rose pruning clippings scattered over it. You can buy black plastic mesh with prickles which you peg down - better for large areas but costs money and can be a pain when you forget to remove it and plants grow through it (chicken wire would do the same) - but prickly clippings are very effective.

I've got one of those electric scarer things too but am not convinced it really makes a difference.

I know to some this will sound a bit sad - it's nature, let them do their thing yadda yadda - if that's fine for you then great. Personally I'm fed up having stuff dug up and would love to see some of the birds that nest in my hedge successfully raise a fledgling or two before the cats get them.

What have others tried?

Watching with interest as next doors cat has decided our lawn is the best place for it to take a shit. I absolutely hate picking it up before the kids can go out to play!!

We got one of these sonar sounds deterrent off Amazon

I put silver birch twigs over areas of bare soil while plants are getting established. Seems to keep them off

i use Scoot from Robert Dyas etc, just a liquid you put down and mix with water.

I feel your pain, we have next doors cat using our front garden, what worked for me last year was the dense planting but whilst waiting for for this to happen, citrus fruit, cut into quarters, and scattered on bare soil. My terrier makes sure cats stay clear of our back garden.

Sensor attached to a hose pipe, best thing ever. Even if it didn't actually get them wet occasionally the noise scared the hell out of them. We used our Ring cameras to see where they were coming into the garden and then pointed the sensor in that direction.

That sounds more like fox or hedgehog. Its a myth that all cats bury their poop but they do like to make a little hole/scrape first which they can't do on a lawn.

No advice OP, I have a lot of both but neither seem to poop really. However the hedgehogs really are poop machines!

I've witnessed my neighbour's cat poop on my front lawn. It's when the grass gets over a certain length so it's long enough for them to make that "hole" that they do it. Bloody pain in the ass in no mow May.

I was in the Botanic gardens in Edinburgh yesterday and their tulip beds had been badly hit by what looked like foxes - lots of dug up sections, holes bigger than you'd get from squirrels.

Sad but somehow reassuring that even the most professional set up gets hit by them! There was a solitary electronic scarer in the middle of the chaos...

A mix of things. We have one of those high-pitched scarer things (not sure how effective it is). I also sprinkle chilli powder and garlic powder and put down orange peel as they don't like strong scents. That seems to do the trick for us. If I do have bare earth I use bramble cuttings too.

The main thing that has worked for me is dense planting. They love bare soil. So that is my ultimate strategy! That’s an interesting comment. It wasn’t until we put a trail camera out that we realised we had a visiting fox, not just one in fact, but two. Needless to say, we are densely planted!

Curry plant

I have a major problem with cats, which even shit in my patio pots. I've tried everything but in my experience the only thing that reliably works is to create a physical barrier. Trimmings from prickly plants like holly are great, but any prunings will work as long as they're laid thickly and they can't get access to bare soil. The electronic scarers are a complete waste of money, the cats just get used to them.