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Mulching to keep cats away
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Posted by
idloveamocha z5 (
My Page) on
Tue, Jan 8, 13 at 9:36
I have a small (8' x 8') vegetable garden, and I've been dealing with a neighborhood cat who likes to use it as a litterbox.
Two years ago, I used cayenne pepper, which worked decently, but I was re-applying it every time it rained, which was a pain.
Last year, I covered the soil with chicken wire, and cut out holes for my plants. This kept the cat out, but weeding was an absolute nightmare. I'd rather not do that again.
I know there are motion-activated sprinklers on the market, but the husband doesn't want a hose laying across the yard for long periods of time, and they're pricey.
So, I've considered mulcing the garden this spring. Someone suggested placing a few layers of newspaper down on the soil, then covering with mulch. I'd leave space for my plantings, of course.
Does anyone have any suggestions/experiences with this? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| I should think cats would love the mulch. Nice soft sitting. How about twiggy or prickly prunings? That is what I use on seed beds. Once the plants grow up the soil is less exposed and less fluffy so cats stay away. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| Yep... I'm constantly fighting at least 4 neighborhood cats who absolutely LOVE wood bark mulch. Best part is they really like to dig, crap, & cover *right next to* a bush or perennial, etc. I'm also considering the motion-activated sprinklers, and if I do it I'll likely bury the water lines for the same reasons your husband mentions. heck... I'll probably install a faucet on my wooden raised bed sides for ease of watering. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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- Posted by RpR_ 3-4 (My Page) on
Tue, Jan 8, 13 at 13:44
| Don't worry about the cats, end of problem. When I was a child, some cat on occasion would use my sandbox as his outhouse, my dad thought it was funny when I found his gift. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| My cat refuses to use a litterbox. I see him all over my gardens doing his business, but haven't noticed any harm..............of course, it's only one cat in a large yard. The SCARECROW motion activitated sprinklers work great - have friends here who are the only ones on their cul de sac that have no deer damage. I buy cayenne pepper here at a huge farmer's market - it's practically free at just over $1 for 1/2 pound. That's about a pint. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| Our cat loves dirt - the softer the better, mulches are just even more attractive. I've resorted to putting a ring of honeylocust thorns around any specimen plants! ;) |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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I have barn cats who liked to use my flower gardens as a litterbox. I also used the chicken wire with holes for my plants - and also found weeding a pain. Now I still use chicken wire but I cut it into smaller pieces to put around the plants (instead of over) which can be picked up for weeding and then replaced. The pieces can be cut into whatever size fits the area or the size that you find more manageable. I put a thin layer of mulch over it to hide the wire and the cats, once they scratch and find the wire, go elsewhere. I also will put stones or garden junk in areas to keep the cats out.
Good luck because I know what a pain, and how odorous, cats can be. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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..
Spread the canes from pruning the roses. The cats aren't going to like the thorns. A bramble by any other name. A pair of gloves will let you pick them up and move them about for weeding and as things change. to sense
.. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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- Posted by corrine1 7b Pacific Northwest (My Page) on
Sat, Jan 12, 13 at 14:41
| I've tried a few things and found once a cat decides your box is it you have a new job. What discouraged the cat most of all was plastic bird or deer netting loosely laid over soil or plants. I propped it up with a few sticks covered with upside down plastic soda/water bottles. I let excess drape over the path & onto the next bed. Burlap, wire on the ground, black or cayenne pepper, mint tea, upturned rose & barberry prunings, dog walking, milk jugs, etc. were temporary deterrents that kept me thinking what else to try. Fortunately, both neighbors with cats moved away. The cats did keep the rabbits out of the gardens. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| I feel your pain as I've been fighting deer, marmots, and chipmunks. Finally put up 7' deer fence, had a bunch of the marmot shot, and just barely cope with the chipmunk problem but am learning more each year. I also know they thrive in cycles so one year there will be none for awhile. A few ideas here: "Preventing cats from pooping in the garden" Not sure I'd be so nice as to do #1, #4 & #8 not applicable unless it's only your cat, #5 highly recommended to break the habit, #6 definitely not an environmental choice and not recommended, #10 huh? these are cats, they don't need a reason for their behavior! Heaven help us, who writes this stuff! I wonder if the curry plant really works? Anyhow if you understand cats you know they don't like change so make as many changes as you can and they may find someone else's yard to go to! |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| Here's what I do to keep my cat (and any other adventurous cats) out of my gardens and pots... for either a bed or a litter box... plastic forks!! Buy a big, cheap box, and stick them in handle-down so the tines poke up, and then when cat squats... well, the cat doesn't hurt itself, it just finds somewhere more comfortable to use. Adjust their spacing as needed to prevent the cat's comfort. Now you don't have to worry about smells, or reapplying cayenne (which, btw, can permanently damage the smell receptors of animals - chemical burn) or anything like that. they last for years. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| thatannagirl, could you tell us where you got your info re "cayenne ......can permanently damage the smell receptors of animals."????????????? Your statement goes totally opposite to all I have read. If you can support this, please do. If you cannot, please retract so misinformation like this doesn't spread. Thanks, Rosie |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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I have lots of friends and acquaintances in law enforcement. I used to use cayenne pepper on my garden until one of them told me that it would permanently damage their smell receptors. Their K-9 units, he said, have to be retired if they get a snout full. They don't lose all sense of smell, but it's no longer up to par because it causes a chemical burn up on their delicate little smell receptors.
If you have a research article that says otherwise, I'm not so blindly confident in his information source to support it any more than I have just stated, and I will concede the point. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| thatannagirl, I googled the phrase
cayenne can permanently damage the smell receptors of animals No results in my reading to support what you said. I can imagine that K9 dogs cannot have any percentage of damage if they're to do their work. Can you ask these friends for substantive papers/research to support their claims?? Again, thanks. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| "A snootful" sounds like a handful being thrown at the animal's face. At least I think it would take that much to do serious damage. As it would to you or me. :-D Hard to imagine that the scent emanating from the garden would do any kind of damage. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| When I prepare my garden plots in the spring and rake them smooth the cats always want to walk across them. I put down chicken wire across the soil to keep them off until the plants start to come up. By that time, I don't see the cat prints any more. They seem to prefer the freshly raked beds, and never bother the plots later in the season. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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C'mon you guys, stop snarking!
I have used popsicle sticks that have kept them out.
Since there has been a flux of feral cats the last couple of years (Animal control will fix and vaccinate feral cats for free and return to be "mousers")
My neighbor has many digger pines, and I was thinking of using the pine cones to keep the cats out. I had read of doing that to keep dogs out of places, so why not kitties!
You can place them around the plants, move them when you want and the water will drip through them!
Just a thought! Nancy |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| My mom used old strips of carpet nails to keep the cats out of newly planted beds. Easy to pick up and move to weed, then just put back in the shed after the plants get bigger. Course my dad's in construction so we had a ready supply of them from remodels. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| If you dont want to shoot it yourself then let the cats owner do it. Start by mixing in a strong laxative into a 1/2 can of tuna and when the cat goes home and craps all over thier house the owners will hopfully take care of business.lol |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| I'm pretty sure I would not like a cat tearing up my garden but I would like one to take care of the voles and moles turning up everywhere. We had cats for many years without rodent problems in the garden. However, we also lost a lot of song birds to them so when they finally passed, the oldest being 20 and experiencing lots of end of life issues, my wife said, never again. That was two years ago. Now, my 40 year old garden with 40 years worth of TLC and hundreds of pounds of horse manure, compost, mulch, etc. seems to have become the grand resort for those darn rodents. They are everywhere. Given a choice, I would bring back the cats. But, my DW has precluded that choice. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| I am collecting the spiky seeds balls from liquidamber trees. I've heard that cats don't like to walk on them, so I plan to put them on the soil in my raised beds. Besides the poop, cats dig when they're done and scatter my freshly planted seeds. Plastic forks sound like a good option, too. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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We used a low voltage electric fence. Pretty easy and effective. $60. Haven't had to use it again after that one season.
Good luck. Cat poo spreads some nasty disease, forgot its name...ah, toxoplasmosis. |
RE: Mulching to keep cats away
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| Our own cats are guilty of poo and cover.Not a problem under trees, but veg garden yuck! I wonder what can kill the Toxoplasmosis once it's already there? And hopefully something that won't kill the good critters. |
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