November 9th, 2010
I’m a cat lover—I have nothing against cats. Still, stray cats, as down-on-their-luck and sweet as they may be, cause problems. Your garden is to them a giant litter box and even though the leaves they chew probably make them feel ill, they do it, anyway. My next door neighbor’s big, territorial cat skulks around my yard; it’s a veritable Battle Royale when I try to sneak past him with my curious dog every morning and night for our walks. Sometimes, they just have to go.
One alternative—one for the patient, perhaps, but just as effective as most others—is to make your garden a hostile environment to cats. The surest way to keep them and others from invading your space is to make it unappealing to them. Here’s how, using nature to your advantage.
1.Toss pine cones, nut shells, and short stakes on the perimeter of your garden and especially around your most prized plants. Cats don’t like walking on noisy, sticky, or sharp things (anybody who owns a cat and uses aluminum foil and double-sided tape in front of the television knows this one). Try putting eggshells and coffee grounds in your garden. Bonus: they also make great fertilizer.
2.Crush mothballs and put them around your garden.
3.Have some sort of citrus fruit for breakfast every morning and leave the peels and rinds where you don’t want cats walking.
4.Sprinkle crushed pepper in the borders. The smell will irritate cats. Cayenne works best, but you’ll need to reapply it after it rains. Bonus: pepper plants might sprout up.
5.If you’re already a fan of essential oils, this one should be easy: splash some eucalyptus oil, lavender oil, lemon grass oil, and citronella oil near your plants. Mustard oil works, too.
6.Combine hot pepper liquid, lemon juice, and tea of rue and spray it on plants.
7.Add plants to your garden with pungent smells cats don’t like. Rue. It’s blue, it’s pretty, and cats can’t stand them. Thorny roses Geranium Garlic Lemon Thyme Lemon Verbena Lavender Pennyroyal Plectranthus caninus, otherwise known as Coleus canina and Scaredy Cat Plant. The jury’s still out on this one, but many people swear that this member of the mint family Lamiaceae is a natural repellant to cats and dogs.
Heather is a freelance writer and the resident blogger for "Go college.com", a free informational website offering tips and advice about college sites online.