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Catnip pluses and minuses?
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Posted by
athenainwi (
My Page) on
Tue, May 1, 12 at 13:20
| One of the local nurseries had some catnip in their display garden that was really pretty. I've got a spot where the rabbits eat everything I plant and I was hoping the catnip being smelly wouldn't attract the rabbits. There's one or two wandering cats in the neighborhood but I don't see them in my yard very often. Are there any other problems with catnip than the obvious cat attractant? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| i use to have one a few years back and it would get 3 feet tall with nice blooms that the bees/bugs went crazy for. The bunnies didn't seem to mess with it at all. Every once in a while in the spring time when the plant would be short.. a wandering neighborhood cat would lounge in it for a bit.. but the plant seemed to bounce back quickly. After it got tall enough, the cats couldn't do much besides nip the sides. Plus as a bonus... maybe the extra cats will keep your bunnies out!!!! (have your tried the liquid fence product?) |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| I planted two 'Walker's Low' Nepeta/catmint plants in my south/full sun foundation bed last year and even though a neighbor's cat crosses my property on his daily rounds, I've never seen him near either plant. The plants grew large and full their first year and have come up again but it's too soon to tell how they'll perform this season. For me they're worth growing just because they bloom for a long time and (I've read) don't need any extra or special attention. I prefer perennials that thrive on neglect and generally need/expect nothing from me other than admiration and an occasional kind word. |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| I planted a very poor 'Walker's Low' specimen very late last fall (early November) and my cat still rolled around on it the day after I planted it...obviously still detecting the scent! (Btw, it easily survived the winter). |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| Do you mean Catnip - Nepeta cataria, or catmint - N. faassenii?? |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| I know about catnip because it grows wild here. It reaches 3 ft. tall and has white flowers. It's a prolific reseeder, but not hard to pull out if you stay on top of it. I never notice outside cats messing with it at all, but we have so much of it growing on the hillsides they probably become used to it. I pull some and wash it for my indoor kitties, and they like it as a treat. No rabbits here so I can't help with that part of your question. |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| I mean actual catnip, not the catmint. I've got two kinds of catmint and I'm very happy with them, but I saw the catnip last year and really liked the look of it. It will be in a spot where reseeding isn't a problem. I have used Liquid Fence. It worked a few years ago, but last year it didn't seem to work at all. I've fenced the backyard well enough to keep the rabbits out most of the time but the front yard is fair game and often has two or more rabbits running around. So I'm trying to plant rabbit resistant stuff out front and the rabbit eaten plants are getting moved to the back. |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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Here's a tip I learned from an old-timer (which I've shared here before)
for deterring cats from "rolling in the catnip/catmint": Firmly place three jagged rocks, about the size of a fist, around the base
of each plant, the more sharp edges, the better. . .once the plants fill out
in late Spring, the rocks disappear. . .it definitely worked on all the feral
cats in my neighborhood! Carl |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| This past October a neighbor gave me a catnip plant and I overwintered in my garage. I hadn't gotten around to planting it in the ground at that time. It did just fine, and this past March I put it outside on my deck. Then my two cats discovered it and wouldn't leave it alone. So, I stuck some plant stakes in the pot and wrapped flexible window screen around it to protect it. First, I cut off some of the leaves to give to the cats before I had covered the plant. :>) It's been growing like crazy and getting tall! I didn't want to keep it wrapped up like a mummy, so I decided to cut it back some and transplant it into a hanging basket. It's just off my back deck, hanging from a bracket near my back door and placed pretty high and far enough away that the cats can't reach it at all. So far so good. As it continues to grow I'll keep cutting it back to keep it more compact. I'll probably be cutting off future flowers :>( but at least I can keep the plant and I'll bring it back into the garage again in the Fall. I'm also thinking of taking a healthy clump with roots and planting it somewhere in the corner of the backyard. I could cover it with window screening (as I had done previously) to give it a chance to become established. Maybe it will even get a chance to flower! Then hopefully it will spread and the cats can have a ball! |
RE: Catnip pluses and minuses?
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| I've been growing catnip for years for the cats. Also the bees and butterflies are attracted to the flowers. It grows like a biennial for me - makes a small clump of foliage the first year, flowers the 2nd year, and then declines. It reseeds lightly for me, but nothing crazy. There are always new seedlings that pop up here and there every year. I pull what I don't want and either leave or transplant a couple to an out of the way spot for the cats to enjoy. "Cats" would be my cat, and Tuffy, the neighbor's big fuzzy yellow male, who is kind of tough looking, and who wanders through the yard from time to time. To prevent cats from rolling around on the plants and smushing them while they're small, I have put a small amount of wire fencing around the plant, and as it gets larger it grows through the fencing, and then the cats can chew on it. |
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