Our neighborhood has a cat problem which means my garden has a cat problem. I’ve read online that some people spread chilli powder on their soil to keep cats away but I’d really rather not do that.
Hopefully it’s a common enough problem that someone here has found a better solution. Help please!
I have tried nearly everything. Chili powder or black pepper only works until the next dew.
I tried a special spray, it’s useless.
The only thing that worked for me to cover the whole garden was special grains made of wood and black pepper oil. You can throw it around the garden and it last one or two weeks.
For raised planter bed, I put nets originally used to cover trees for birds not to eat the fruits. It can be cut to any size and cats don’t like to walk on it. Some issues :
- it’s fragile. You need to replace it after one or two years.
- plants go through the net. It’s hard to remove then.
- once there was a tiny bird in it. I found it soon enough for it not to starve.
Oh! Tree nets! I’m going to look into that. I was thinking chicken wire but it would be a bit of a hassle to deal with imagined. The little bird is a little worrying but probably a rare thing, hopefully 😅
If you weave some pieces of ribbon into the netting, it should help make it more visible to the birds so they know to fly around it
Look at the bright side: you don’t have a cat problem, you have a cockroach, mice, and bird solution… 🙃
But seriously, the only long lasting way I’ve seen to keep cats away from anywhere, is to have a dog. Add some sacrificial bushes, or bushy plants like peonias, where a cat can hide from the dog, and you’ll have the rest of the garden cat free.
Source: I’ve tried to keep cats from jumping a terrace wall for the last 20 years, and after dozens of iterations, had to accept that unless you turn the whole area into a cage, the ones who don’t get fat and high on catnip, will find a way.
I have chickens too… and no mice! 😄
I might just have to make it physically impossible for them to do their business near the veggies, might not be pretty though.
I never tried it, but the farm supply store I used to work at sold predator urine that would allegedly keep certain animals away. you might need to look into it, but fox or wolf or mountain lion or something might work
what exactly is it the cats are doing? just using it as a litter box?
Yeah, using it as a litter box. Predator urine sounds awesome. I wonder how pungent it is 😅
Grow a lot of cucumbers :)