Alley cats

[Mint]

Hi,
Where I live I have a vegetable patch in the backyard. I have noticed that alley cats like to gather in my garden, littering the place at times. Does anyone know a natural way of repelling them? They can be quite noisy at night too. Any hints are welcome.

Mint

 

[marlingardener]

How about a dog? Sorry, just kidding.
We have feral cats in our area, and I've found that any trimmings from rose bushes or other thorny plants, placed around the garden, deter the cats. Their paws are tender and they don't like getting pricked by thorns.
I haven't found any scent deterrent yet. I've read that citrus scent deters cats, but don't know about that from personal experience.

 

[Beth_B]

I have this problem too...bark mulch won't actually deter cats but it will stop them from using vegetable beds as litter boxes for sure.

I've often seen a motion-triggered sprinkler suggested as a deterrent; in general cats dislike both hissing* noises, and getting wet.

*Well, if not a dog, how about a bunch of pet snakes?

 

[MaryMary]

Mint, a woman I used to work with swore that mothballs kept cats out of the garden, but I have never tried it.

The only thing I've found that works for keeping out of my garden is to not give them room to squat. My cats will leave plants alone, but try to use the ground in between.

I stick things in the ground so they don't have room. I use solar lights and garden stakes (the metal flowers and birds and butterflies...) in my flower bed. I use small sticks shoved into the ground in the vegetable garden. So they go in the grass, and since I'm not the one that mows...

How about a dog?

I love that! If I ever get another dog, I will try to train it to keep my cats out of the garden!

I heard about them avoiding citrus, too. I tried it out on my own cats, peeled an orange and let them smell the peel. They gave me a weird look, "Why are you offering me a NOT MEAT treat?!" That was about it.

bark mulch won't actually deter cats but it will stop them from using vegetable beds as litter boxes for sure.

This I did not know!! I've used grass clippings, leaves, and straw as mulch, and they just dig it aside. Bark mulch, ok!!

 

[Beth_B]

Yes as long as it's chunky enough, the cats won't dig at it! Took me a couple of years to figure that out but it totally works.

I had a big outdoor flowering pot and a previous dog was destroying it be sticking his snout into the dirt and uprooting stuff. So I did an evil but very effective thing...bought a box of wooden toothpicks and stuck them everywhere. A veritable forest of tiny pointy sticks. Worked like a charm! (But perhaps not so efficient for a larger area.)

Oh...as far as deterrents such as citrus, mothballs, even commercial pet-deterrent sprays...in my experience none worked at all. And one does have to be careful with essential oils, some of which can be very toxic to cats.