5 Ways to Keep Cats Out of Your Garden

While cats can be cute and cuddly, there is one place that you don’t want them and that is your garden. Cats might nibble on your plants, use your soil as a litter box, and can spread disease. Keeping your garden cat free is one of the best ways to ensure it is a healthy and safe garden, but how can you effectively repel cats? The good news is, there are ways to do this that are humane and safe. Take a look below at 5 Ways to Keep Cats Out of Your Garden so your garden can stay safe and healthy!

5 Ways to Keep Cats Out of Your Garden

1. Plant “yucky” plants on the outside of garden. Try deterring the cats by planting flowers and plants they will find yucky on the outer border of the garden. This includes pennyroyal, rosemary, and lavender. Even though they taste terrible to cats, they will look gorgeous in your garden. One taste is all cats will need to decide they wish to go elsewhere. These plants are not poisonous, they just don’t taste good at all. Plant them liberally around the garden and see if they do the trick.

2. Try some squirting sprinklers. Most cats hate water, so try implementing sprinklers around the garden. You can find motion activated sprinklers that spray when the cat comes near, scaring it and causing it to run in the opposite direction. If you see a cat in the garden, a quick squirt with a water gun or hose may do the trick too.

3. Plant catnip on the opposite side of the yard. Cats can sniff out catnip in a heartbeat, so this tip is brilliant and easy. Try to steer the cat in another direction by planting catnip on the opposite side of the yard. This way the cat will be more inclined to visit that area of the yard and will leave your garden plants alone. One or two plants is all you need, and you can add it right to your landscaping or just display it in a flower pot.

4. Make your own cat spray. Forget chemical filled repellent products. You can mix vinegar, rosemary sprigs, and cayenne pepper in a spray bottle and shake it up well. Spray it along the perimeter of the garden and it should keep not just cats but other pests out as well. They won’t like the smell or the taste and will decide to go elsewhere.

5. Consider your mulch. Cats are inclined to visit gardens with fine and soft mulch. It feels more like their litter box and is more comfortable on their paws. They will however be less inclined to visit gardens that have rougher or thick cut mulch or even pebble covering. Consider a rougher mulch if cats are an issue, or even consider small pebbles or gravel coverings.

If you are ready to enjoy a healthy, cat-free garden, give these 5 Tips for Keeping Cats Out of Your Garden a try. You will find them to be effective ways to solve this all too common problem!