An experienced gardening expert has shared several natural and safe methods to keep your neighbours' cats away from ruining your garden. Cats are the perfect indoor pet, as they are affectionate and curious. Give them a toy, and they will amuse you with their antics. However, cats that roam outdoors can cause problems and become pests for gardeners. They tend to use gardens as a litter box and, in the process, end up trampling on and digging up your beautiful flowers or prized crops.
By law, cats have the right to roam, which means they are legally allowed to wander into your garden. Cats are also protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006, so causing harm to a cat using any homemade or shop-bought deterrent could be deemed an offence and leave you with a big fine or even a prison sentence.
With this in mind, @gardening.with.ish on TikTok has shared four safe and all-natural deterrents that cats “can’t stand”. He said: “My gardening tips will show you some simple hacks to prevent and repel cats from your flower beds and borders, whilst ensuring you don’t do any harm to them or your plants.”
White Vinegar
The gardening guru noted that “cats can’t stand” the smell of white vinegar, as anything acidic, “they’re just not a fan of”. He recommends grabbing a spray bottle and filling it about a third with water and the rest with white vinegar. Give it a good mix and spray this on your gravel or on your edges, but not directly on the plants. The gardener said, “The watered-down vinegar won’t have any smell to us, but they’ll be able to smell it, and they’ll sure as hell stay away.”
Fragrant Plants
Now it’s not just the smell of vinegar that they “detest”, there are also some plants that cats “really don’t like”. Cats dislike the smell of certain scents, such as citrus, eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, and rosemary. The expert noted that three particular plants work the best, and they include lavender, rosemary and lemongrass. It’s the strong fragrance that is a “natural repellent”, and the plants mentioned are also “quite pretty in the garden”, according to the expert.
Garden Borders
It doesn’t have to just be a fragrance used to deter cats. Densely packed borders also work “effectively”. Densely packed borders mean that “they can’t actually get through it”, and as a result, they’re not going to do their business there.
Use Twigs and Bark
If you’re new to gardening and you don’t have a densely packed border, then the expert has just the trick. He recommends getting some old, dried twigs and bits of bark and shoving them around your plants. The gardener said, “That really sharp and coarse texture means that cats don’t really fancy walking on it, and they’ll naturally avoid it. The other pro of this as well is that the sticks will naturally rot into the ground, meaning you’ll add a slow boost of nitrogen, as well as keeping those cats away.”
