Welcome to the miniature gardens forum! Come on in, get yourself a cup of coffee and a donut and put your feet up for a while! We can all sit around and share about our miniature gardens...

I am relatively new to the 'mini' garden concept. I began last year with a mini garden for my 2 yr old grandson. My husband built redwood boxes to sit on our porch railing. Unfortunately, my kitties decided that these boxes were a great place for an afternoon nap! Grr! over time, the kitties won out, and most of the plants (except the bonzais) have died.

I would love to 'revive' the garden again this spring, and welcome any suggestions and tips.

Cute! Those planters look fairly shallow (good for bonsai, then)... or is it just the angle of the photo?

Somehow, I'm certain there are miniature "fairy gardens" in my future. I do have some cute little twig benches/chairs squirreled away (thrift store finds)... I'm sure they'll inspire some creativity! Hmm, wonder what sort of little plant would scramble over a miniature twig arbor...

I have a bonzai ivy (I'll have to find out the actual name) it has heart shaped leaves. DH is still looking for his 'roundtuit' but once he finds it he will be making me a miniature arbor for the ivy.

The boxes are shallow. DH (Dear Handyman/Honey) made them for me out of some scrap redwood. they were made to fit the black plastic seed trays. They are basicaly redwood sides, a slatted bottom, and then brackets to secure them to the railing. Then we (my grandson & I) planted them. The bonsai were kept in the small containers so they are easy to remove and care for, then plopped right back in place.

Now I've got to figure out how to keep my kitties from using the boxes for their afternoon naps! ugh!

Eliot kitty has been avoiding containers that I've "mulched" with used coffee grounds... you could also try spritzing with orange oil (maybe on the soil surface or some structure rather than directly on the plants, just in case) or mint oil... actually, I can't think of an essential oil that my cat wouldn't prefer to avoid.

I'll try that! thanks!!! Think I'll start with coffee grounds first...we have plenty of those around here!

If they dont work, where would I find mint oil?

I get essential oils from LorAnn... but you may be able to find some at JoAnn's (try the candy/baking section) or at a health food store. I'd probably try lavender... I love it, but it's too strong for the cat!

Actually, if you grow mint, you could also just chop up some leaves and scatter them around. I do that in my veggie bed to deter bunnies... Just be sure not to drop stem/root pieces, or you could find it trying to take over mini-ville!

here's the link for LorAnn: https://www.lorannoils.com/

thanks! I think DH has banned me for JoAnnes for a while LOL! I bought an extravegant sewing machine last fall, so now I have a 'teeny tiny' crafting budget LOL...I'll have to sneak in there next Costco trip and see if I can find them.

I still want to try the coffee grounds first. Also, if orange oil works...do you think orange peels in the beds will work?

Anjl, if you "bruise" theorange peel it should work, though it won't look as nice. You might try grating it and then spreading it around, that will take care of both bruising and making it look nicer.

Though be warned: cats are contentious. I was told to put down tin foil to keep my cats from going places I didn't want them, instead of staying away they liked the sound of the tin foil.

LOL, Laura your cat sounds like my Dusty! I broke handles off the plastic forks, stuck them prongs up in the mini planters....a few days later he's out there layin in the bed again... dont know how he moved those prongs, probably just clawed them out of his way so thats when I kinda gave up LOL!

I have a zester, so I'll try the grounds and the orange zest and see what happens. I just dont want to plant anything more in there until I solve the kitty issue

I have heard of people dusting black pepper in garden beds to deter cats. I have not tried it but it sounds good to me. Karen

Thanks Karen!

Orange zest didnt deter him.... put some in there this morning and just a few hours later Dusty was stretched out all over the bed again!

zhinu,so true and I hate to say this but the only sure fire method for me was to cage the area with 3 dimensional (ugly) cages where they could not get in. I have used a pet cage to start seedlings when my cat was wrecking them before anything could sprout. If you "shoo" your cat away they will want the spot even more.lol!!!

Another idea is to divide your planting area up so that it has little sections too small for your cat to lie down in. None of my cats can sleep in a gallon pot so maybe if you use a series of different clay pots the cat will not find a comfortable spot.

You can also try carpeted shelves positioned in different higher spots to attract the cats to a resting spot away from your planters.

I wish they had motion detected sprinklers so that when a cat approaches the beds it turns on and the bed gets watered while chasing the cat away. lol!

Karen

Seems this problem is a common one.
I used pieces of wire about ever 2 inches years ago.
I wanted that planter of herbs.
I goggled sprinkler motion detector and here is what I found
http://pondparts.com/subcat274...
The top one is $60, but below that is one just right for what you need I think.
It doesn't water, but is motion sensored and will train them.

gardener2005 said:I wish they had motion detected sprinklers so that when a cat approaches the beds it turns on and the bed gets watered while chasing the cat away. lol!

Karen

Oh my! Now that would shock him! LOL! I thought about installing one of the deer ones near my pond to keep the raccoons away, but they were way to expensive and I think way to powerful for Dusty, would blow him across the yard!

Sunshine, we cross posted.. thanks! I'll have to keep my eye on that site, they are out of stock right now but compressed air.... now THAT just might work!!

Maybe you can use chicken wire. I got acres of gumballs, Want some???
Got gum tree, the balls are stickery. Want some pine cones?? heard they work too. Or just let the boy shot with a watergun to scare it not hurt it. i like cats.

Ridesredmule said:Or just let the boy shot with a watergun to scare it not hurt it. i like cats.

I have this story about that exact thing! You see, my son was 1 yr old (hes now 13) when I brought Dusty home as a kitten, and he tormented that poor kitty constantly. Dakota, my son, loved to shoot the kitty with the water gun.... would sneak up and squirt! right between the eyes... etc etc. Well, I kept warning my son that some day, Dusty was gonna get him back. One day, when my son was about 2 1/2 yrs old, he was sound asleep on my bed taking a nap. I was standing there folding the laundry and dusty came prancing in the room and jumped up on the bed. He looked at my sleeping son, then looked me right in the eye, then pranced over to my son and clawed him across his nose and lip!
Well, needless to say my son woke us screaming and I told him what happened. He said 'Why Dusty do dat?" and I told him that Dusty says the same thing every time he gets shot with a water gun, or his tail gets pulled! Dakota and Dusty are now best of friends! I think they finally reached an understanding that day

I knew that little boy wouldn't mind shooting the kitty. He is cute in that pic. It doesn't take them long to grow up, does it?
But I can send you those gumballs. I got one in my lawnmower last spring and had to take it to shop. The ball blocked something and I couldn't get it to go.