How do I keep cats(there are only two farm cats) from frequenting my flower beds? I've done the local nursery recommended plants to keep them away naturally, the coffee grounds, garlic, pepper, etc. I planted sage and & citronella and they went right next to them. We are in the country and the whole drive is sand...why they don't use that beats me. Also, how do I keep my dog out. I planted bulbs with bone meal, duh, whoda thunk the dog wouldn't dig there? They are never in it when I'm outside so I can't catch them. They are scared of my stink eye!

I love cats so don't get me wrong here. I always had good success keeping them out of my areas by spreading rose canes here and there. Once they figure out where the canes are they tend to avoid those areas.

It will make your flower beds rather nasty, but dogs will stay out if you toss some of their poop in the beds. Citrus rinds are supposed to gross out cats, but it does not work on mine.

When I don't do this, or keep it packed densely with plants, my raised beds ARE cat boxes. I had to rename the first bed that I amended "The Cat Box".



When I clear a bed for planting, I HAVE to cover it with chicken wire until the plants are largish, or cats or squirrels make hug craters. Once the seedlings are up, I bend the chicken wire or wire fencing to give it some height, so seedlings don't grow through it.

Himalayan blackberry vines, if old enough and thorny enough, work when I have enough of them to lay them out thickly.

Shredded Thai chili peppers might have worked a little bit, but not after the first light rain.


I tried this: forget about it!



This might have worked by itself, if I had sealed the ends, But covering the wire fencing and both ends with heavy plastic DID work. (Or maybe the fact that these were small pots sitting on heavy cardboard was the deterrent.)

My 3 cats seem to have focused on one raised sunny bed as their personal toilet. I've acceded them that bed and plant hardy annual flowers there which seem to tolerate the high-poo content - snapdragons, cosmos, and such. I plant it heavily and seldom weed it. There are just some battles I'm no longer interested in.

Strangely, my old sandbox which I use as a holding area for potted plants (ready to give away or newly purchased but not yet planted) they leave alone. So, I guess we have a compromise of sorts.

Deb, so true, love this line!

There are just some battles I'm no longer interested in.

I have too many cats and too small a yard, they seem to be able to manufacture poop to fit whatever space there is. They have 2 litter boxes outside, they use those a lot, and they still can come up with donations for the yard. I've got chicken wire cut to fit inside most of my potted plants, that works for poop but I've got a couple that will just squat on top of it to pee. Luckily, we get a humungous amount of rain in the summer and I water a lot in the winter to keep the pee from burning the plants. There are some things that just can't tolerate it and I don't grow them anymore. I also buy the cheapest ground coffee I can find at the big dollar stores and spread it around every month or so, it smells nice and the cats don't seem to like digging in it.

I haven't tried coffee grounds, I assume used ones would be just as good as fresh? This bed is directly below my kitchen window, easy enough to toss the grounds out. I'll give that a whirl.

Someone posted an idea about placing large pine cones in potted plants to deter cats.

Not I, but I do put pine cones under the shrubs in front of the house to keep the dogs from living there in the summer - kinda works.

Yes, used coffee grounds work just as well. I used to pick up the used grounds from a friend's cafe once a week and used those. He died recently and while the cafe has been reopened by someone else I haven't had the heart to go back.

I believe that Starbucks gives away used grounds.