Cats!!!

Just reworked a flower bed 1-2 months ago, and filled it full of daylilies. Now the neighbor's cat is using it for a litter box. Short of shooting it, is there another solution. :) It is a narrow bed next to the garage. I suppose a fence? but anyone have any tried and true methods? Thanks.

don't have any sweet gum balls do you? if you can get some, sprinkle them all around, but then you'll have to be careful too.

You mean as in bubble gum?

no, we have huge sweet gum trees here, and they shed an awful 'ball'. It's prickly and about the size of a golf ball. Thinking of something the cats wouldn't want to walk on. Do you have some type of thorny bush that you can take cuttings from? Something to leave down until they get broken from the habit of going there.

tiG,
Ok. I see what you mean. I should be able to find something. Thanks so much for your help.

I would try moth balls and see if that works. Would smell bad then, but maybe once the cat forgot about that particular place, you could take them out.

In the spring, before your plants come up lay chicken wire over the bed. The plants will grow threw it but the cats can't dig threw it.

Great ideas' We installed a planter the full length of our parking a few years ago' Several trees with hostas between and then heavily mulched' Not long it became a cat litter box for the neighborhood felines' I'm an animal lover but when they do that,scratch up vehicles jumping on the hoods,whatever,I draw the line' Not to mention working in the garden with a south wind(always here)the disgusting smell' I also grow rasberries out back so when I pull out the old canes they now lay in the parking planter,ha,no more problems' The dogs also gave up urinating on the trees as they couldn't balance while hopping,lol' In spring my rose prunings are added' Good luck whatever you come up with and keep us posted' Sis'

Cat Deterrents:

* blood's meal fertilizer
* purple foutain grass (link below - just imagine it purple) to hide a pool pump that the cat LUVVVVVVs it and lays in the long leaves all day. So my thought is maybe put something in that the cats really like and - you know cats won't winky were they like to hang out.
* chili powder, red crushed pepper , cayenne pepper
(Beware for reasons posted above)
* toothpicks
* coffee grounds
* black pepper
* aluminum foil
* water bottle on "stream"
* motion sensor sprinklers
* chicken wire
* gutter covers
* river rocks over the exposed soil
* garlic
*cayenne pepper, it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this
# moth balls, avoid these in your garden because they are highly toxic


Give them their own areas:
(if you don't mind them protecting your garden from other critters)

* give them their own areas to dig in: loose soil and mulch like small bark mulch
* give her her own plants - ie., pots of grass for her to chew on and a place in a large planted container on her balcony with some miscanthus grass in it (the cat likes to curl up in that for some reason)
* pick the cat up and bring it to eye level with the plant to see and smell it up close. She noted that once her cat has seen and sniffed at the plant, she usually doesn't bother with it later.
* Barley Grass
* Oat Grass
* Wheat Grass
* Flax
* Wheat Berries
* Catmint cultivars
* Carex elata 'Bolwes Golden' but put it in some shade
* Valarian
* Striped Ribbon Grass (can be invasive)
* Cat Thyme, Teucrium marum, and Silver-vine, Actinidia polygama, and Mints
* Sweetgrass