Kid and wildlife friendly ways to stop cats using my border

[3rdbabytime]

Hi beginner gardener here! Recently completed a planted border in my garden but neighbour's cat is using it to soil in despite the area being filled with bark mulch. Is there a recommended cat repellent that is kid friendly, plant friendly and wildlife friendly? Or any other tips please? Thanks!

Neither cat nor kid friendly but I stick rose cuttings into the ground. Or you can lay them across the ground. Looks a bit like I am staging some medieval siege. This is from many years of trying many things.

They will love the bark 😂

Chatgpt also suggested using bamboo canes so you're definitely onto something! Thank you

Yea I realised once I read up on it 😂clearly not a cat owner!

The only solution I have found (and I live in Cat Close) are scat mats on the ground and/or netting around the perimeter or being kept on constant alert with a water gun! Good luck.

Cocktail sticks.

I only heard one yelp and the problem stopped!

Put in more plants. Any open space is a pooing opportunity!

As I have cats myself, I leave them little paths and some empty spaces with easily dug up soil at the back of borders. It works pretty well.

Water pistols are fine but they'll still poo there when you're not looking.

Plastic forks (looks stupid, not toddler friendly)
Lion poo (you can buy pellets of the stuff, only works until it rains heavily)
Solar powered motion activated sonic pitched cat scarer (worked great for a year untill it broke)
Current solution is planting more plants

Another vote for plastic forks and planting more plants. Most effective combo I have found.

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions, they are really helpful! I have bought more plants and for now I have placed bamboo canes around which have worked for today but we were in the garden a lot so could be coincidental. Really appreciate the tips!

We used orange peel. Looked nice and worked! Did eat a lot of oranges though

Any suggestions for repelling cat from the middle of the lawn? Plants and sticky up things not so practical there!

I have teasels Growing in my garden and at the end of the summer i cut the stems up and put them in the soil or on the grass where i don’t want cats to go . They’ve been very successful up to now

Get your own cat. One that's very good at guarding its own "hood".

Plant more plants, flowers. Cats don't like dense foliage when doing their business as it's a very vulnerable time for them and they very much like to see what's going on around them. If that fails, chicken coop wire mesh in more exposed, less dense areas.

Or make friends with the little pooper. Our neighbour's tabby used to use our border at the front for a sneaky poop. Caught him a few times and used a watergun and loud noises to scare him off but the little bollix would always return. We then bribed him with some Dreamies, laser pointer games and belly rubs and now he just hangs out in our drive and does his business somewhere else; we're like his back up home and he's not going to poop in his own front yard! We even planted some catmint just for him so now he's happy out.

Only thing that worked for us was getting a dog - very kid friendly! Appreciate that’s an extreme solution :)

Used coffee beans apparently work

A friend gave me the prunings from her holly tree. It worked for a good six months until the leaves dropped off, but long enough to break the habit. Late DH got an old sheet of plywood and drove nails through it then placed pieces in the vulnerable areas, spike up. Very effective.

cats poo where they can smell other cats or decay ( Chanel No 5 to them! )
I cover the area with used coffee grounds, mixed with a small amount of chest vapour rub ( cheap sort from discount store) and any citrus fruit peel.
You will not be able to smell it but the cats can an move on.

Thank you everyone. My bamboo canes around the area had no effect. So definitely need to try some of the ideas here!