How to Remove Cats From Flower Beds

A cat can cause extensive damage in a flower garden.

Cats and gardens are not a pleasant combination. Not only will cats sully your flowerbed with their own form of fertilizer, they can damage your growing plants by digging in the garden soil. When you have pest cats you need to control, remove cats from flowerbeds using several different methods. Use ingredients you have in your kitchen to repel cats and make your garden uninviting for your feline visitors.

Things You'll Need

• 1/2 cup cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup dry mustard
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• Mixing bowl
• Plastic gloves
• Mulch (river stones, cocoa shells)
• Chicken wire (2-inch mesh)
• Garden hose

Instructions

1. Mix the cayenne pepper, dry mustard and flour in the mixing bowl. Wear plastic gloves to protect your hands from the oils in the cayenne pepper and sprinkle the mixture liberally around the outer perimeter of your flower garden. The pungent smell of the mixture will repel cats and keep them out of your flower garden. Reapply the cayenne pepper mixture once a week or after rain falls.

2. Mulch your flower garden with the river stones or cocoa shells. When you cover the soil with a surface that is difficult to walk on or slippery ,such as the stones, cats will not want to walk on the mulch and they will not have access to the soil for digging.

3. Stretch chicken wire over the soil and mulch over the chicken wire to cover it. This is especially effective for a flower garden when you are in the seed or seedling stage. The seeds or seedlings can grow through the mesh openings without difficulty and cats will not be able to dig in the soil.

4. Use a garden hose to spray intruding cats when they get near your flower garden. Although you will need to be vigilant to catch cats near your garden, it may only take one or two dousings with the garden hose to deter a cat from visiting your flowerbed.

5. Plant rue, an aromatic herb, in a full-sun location around your garden. Cats do not like the rue plant, so if you plant rue along the outer edges of your flower garden, you may repel the cats and keep them from entering your garden. Space the rue plants every 18 inches and keep them watered throughout the growing season.

References

• North Dakota State Extension Service: Felix Domestica as a Garden Pest
• To Build a Garden: How Do I Keep Cats Out of My Yard
• Care2: Keeping Cats Out of the Garden

Resources

• Missouri Botanical Gardens: Ruta Graveolens