What Deters Cats From the Garden?

Cats are curious by nature and, if left outside to roam, might come and explore your garden, disturbing your plants. If you own cats and allow them to wander your yard, you can deter them with non-toxic methods to ensure they do not eat a potentially poisonous plant. Get cats out of your garden using a few simple tricks and talk to your neighbors about keeping their cats indoors.

  1. Physical Barriers

    • To keep cats out of your garden, set up physical barriers that prevent a cat from getting to the plants within. An electric wire fence emits a small charge that deters, but does not harm, an animal that approaches your garden. This method works for all types of animals, including cats. To prevent a cat from digging up your garden, lay down chicken wire when you first plant your seeds. Cats do not like the texture of the wire beneath their feet and cannot dig the area up after the plants begin to grow. This also prevents cats from digging up and eating any of the seeds, which can be poisonous.

    Scent Deterrents

    • Cats do not like strong scents. Fill small baby food jars with vinegar or equal parts ammonia and water, and bury them in your garden up to the level of the soil. Sprinkle cayenne pepper on your garden soil; the strong scent of pepper helps to deter cats and is not as harsh as the other scents on human noses. Commercial scent deterrents, sold in pet supply stores, smell unpleasant to cats and come in both spray and granule form that you can use in your garden. These sprays smell bitter or mimic the scent of feline predator urine.

    Deterrent Plants

    • Plant certain species of foliage that cats dislike the scent of within your garden to deter cats from it. Cats dislike the scent of lavender, marigolds and the pennyroyal plant. Disperse these plants throughout the garden for maximum effectiveness. A plant called coleus canina is sold specifically to repel cats and dogs because of its scent.

    Motion Detection

    • You can find motion-detecting sprinklers or high-frequency sound deterrents in your pet or garden supply store. Motion-activated sprinklers spray the cat with a harmless spritz of water to discourage it from entering the garden, while watering your plants in the process. Sound deterrents emit a sound heard only by cats and dogs that is unpleasant to them. Unlike motion-activated sound deterrents, the water will only target your garden and not affect neighboring pets.

    Suggestions

    • The scent and texture of blood meal or used coffee grounds can deter cats; sprinkle these in your mulch to discourage your cat from entering your garden. Set up a small garden specifically for cats, containing catnip or cat grass plants, for them to nibble on. This provides cats with an attractive alternative to your primary garden, giving them a place to roll around, play and dig.