Tired of neighborhood cats pooping in your yard?
Unwanted cats that leave their droppings in your vegetable garden... it's infuriating!
In addition, cats are a danger to your health... Why?
Because cat feces can contain toxoplasmosis and contaminate the soil in your garden.
Really to avoid if you have a vegetable garden where you grow fruits and vegetables!
But then, how do you prevent cats from coming into your garden and flower bed?
Fortunately, there are 9 simple and effective tips to scare cats away from the garden for good . Watch:
Do you know why cats love to hang around your plants? Because they love very soft surfaces, like the earth.
This is because cats carefully avoid itchy surfaces, as the pads under their paws are very sensitive.
So an easy solution to keep cats away is to make the surface of your garden as unwelcoming as possible!
You just have to have the things that sting on your garden floor, and the cats will never come back!
Here are some easy and cheap tricks you can use:
– Twigs: Place twigs where cats like to roam in your yard. Space them a few inches apart and leave them until your plants have grown well in the spring. Plus, it'll help the bees! Indeed, a bundle of twigs is an ideal shelter for bees!
– P as of pin: drive pine cones into the ground. In fact, you can use anything you can get your hands on, as long as it stings! So try with dead leaves, gravel, crushed eggshells, holly or bramble sprigs or even an old non-slip mat, with the non-slip side up.
– Wooden chopsticks: keep your wooden chopsticks and skewers and reuse them in the garden. Just plant them in the ground, taking care not to space them too far apart so the cats can't turn around.
– Chicken wire: cover the floor with chicken wire. The trick also works with a piece of fence or a trellis placed on the ground. And don't worry, plants can grow through holes in the wire mesh.
– Food mesh bag: do you see those net bags in which we buy onions or potatoes? You can also reuse them to cover the ground in the garden. It is enough to fix them by driving in twigs or stakes. If necessary, increase the size of the holes around your plants as they grow. Be careful, because the net bags are made of nylon and must not fly away or be forgotten in your garden!
Cats have a very sensitive sense of smell, and they carefully avoid certain odors with natural repellent properties.
– Fragrant flowers: cats avoid certain fragrant flowers, such as rue, lavender, pennyroyal, Plectranthus caninus and lemon thyme. Try planting these flowers to keep cats away. In addition, interspersing different varieties of plants helps attract pollinators and other beneficial insects to your garden.
– Citrus: cats avoid citrus smells. Place citrus peels directly on garden soil.
– Coffee grounds: scatter coffee grounds where cats wreak havoc. If you don't have enough, go ask for coffee grounds in the cafes near you. For sure they will give you coffee grounds for free! Check out the trick here.
– Human Hair: human hair is said to be an excellent cat repellent. When you clean your brush, put some in your garden. You can also ask your hairdresser to pick it up for you.
– Commercial sprays: there are also commercial repellents, like this spray, which mimic the smell of urine from cat predators. Non-toxic and organic, these products are also safe for your plants.
Put up a chain-link fence to keep cats from wandering around your plants.
Gardeners recommend using a wire mesh with 5 cm by 5 cm mesh, and erecting it at a height of at least 1.75 meters.
Maybe you already have a wooden fence all around your garden?
So, to keep neighborhood cats out, you can also install a sloping mesh return, as in the photo below.
Water the soil around your plants and places where cats come to relieve themselves
You can simply spray water on the soil with a spray bottle or a garden sprayer, like this one.
There are also sprinkler systems with motion sensors, like this one.
As soon as a cat passes in front of the sensor, the device launches a jet of water to scare it away from the garden.
Just make sure to deactivate this type of device when you are in your garden, and to respect the restrictions of water use in case of drought.
To keep cats away with noise, hang a wind chime or a bell that rings with the wind.
Alternatively, use a simple jar filled with gravel, which you can shake to make noise when a cat approaches your garden.
There are also several ultrasonic repellent devices, which turn on when cats get too close.
These devices emit a noise that cats hate, but rest assured, it is inaudible to humans.
Cats hate the strong smell of white vinegar!
Use this easy remedy to get rid of invasive cats for good.
For this trick, you have the choice between 2 simple and effective methods.
Either you spray pure white vinegar directly on the places where the cats do their business so that they don't come back.
Either wet the newspapers completely with white vinegar and put the newspapers where the cats come to hang out in your garden.
In both cases, consider repeating the operation every week. Check out the trick here.
Cats tend to choose the same place to relieve themselves.
To avoid recurrences, eliminate urine odors by cleaning the area with a garden hose (or with rainwater if you use a catcher).
For a more powerful cleaning, use a 100% ecological product such as black soap to clean doorsteps, garden furniture and other strategic places.
To discover: 17 Amazing Uses of BLACK SOAP For Home, Garden And Beauty.
The neighbor's cat takes your garden as a litter? Maybe the solution is to make a peace offering!
Try planting plants that all cats love:mint, honeysuckle or catnip.
Then, install a small sandbox next to the plants, which the cat can use as an outdoor litter box to do its business.
Yes, that means you're probably going to have to clean up the poop from time to time.
But this may be the compromise you need to stop cats dragging their paws in your precious vegetable patch!
Is your own cat wreaking havoc in the garden?
To save your plants and prevent your cat from attacking the birds, you can build a covered shelter.
Click here to find out how to make a covered shelter, and let your cat out in the garden without any risk.
1. Because their droppings are a danger to your health
Cat feces can contain parasites or pathogens, which are not found in manure.
Indeed, the manure used in the garden or vegetable patch comes from herbivorous animals.
Thus, cat droppings present a real health risk – especially for those who grow fruits and vegetables in their garden.
Be aware that this risk also applies to dog droppings!
2. Because they kill the birds
The cat is a formidable predator.
Moreover, according to this study, domestic cats kill billions of birds and mammals each year.
And if you do it right, you're already planting those flowers that attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators.
3. Because they disrupt relations with your neighbours
Eh yes ! It's tricky to maintain good relations with your neighbors when their cat comes to relieve itself in your vegetable patch!
