Will Vinegar Keep Cats Out of Flower Beds?

Use vinegar to keep cats away.

Cats are generally cute and cuddly household pets, but they can wreak havoc in your flower garden. Additionally, certain plants can be harmful or even fatal to the cats. Commercial deterrants can be expensive and toxic, but you can use vinegar, a natural and non-toxic cat repellant, to keep both your garden and the local cats safe from harm.

How It Works

Cats have very sensitive noses, and the strong scent of vinegar is one that their olfactory senses find overpowering. Cats dislike the scent so much that they will immediately turn away from any area that remotely smells like vinegar. Even a faint vinegar scent will turn the cat around. Vinegar also overpowers the scent of any animal the cat may have been tracking.

Using Vinegar in your Flower Bed

To use vinegar to repel cats, pour undiluted food-grade white or apple cider vinegar around the flower bed. Because many flowers are sensitive to pH changes in the soil, you don't want to pour the vinegar directly on the flowers. However, if you form a closed ring around the flower bed, the cat will not cross it. Don't be afraid to be generous when pouring the vinegar around the flower bed, as the stronger the scent, the sooner the cat will turn away.

Frequency

The downside to vinegar is that it doesn't last very long, and the flower bed will need to be re-treated bi-weekly, at least. If you live in an area that receives a lot of rainfall, you might need to treat the area weekly -- heavy rain can wash away the scent. Do not treat the area more often then weekly, however, because the vinegar can saturate the soil and reach the roots in your flower bed if used too often.

Soil Contamination Precautions

If you are growing flowers that have highly specific pH requirements and are extremely sensitive to soil changes (such as orchids), place a physical barrier (bricks or a small wooden fence) around the soil and then pour vinegar that is diluted by 50% around the barrier. This should prevent soil cross-contamination. Conversely, you can increase the basic elements with something that will counteract the acid in the vinegar, such as ground limestone in your fertilizer.

References

• 1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar: Pets
• The Vinegar Book: Using Vinegar and Your Cat
• Savvy Gardener: Changing the pH of Your Soil