The cat is an animal with very distinct hygiene habits. Whenever possible, it prefers relieving itself away from where it eats. For this reason, very often if a neighbor has a cat that can freely enter and leave the house, the cat will sneak into a nearby garden and use it as a toilet, digging up the earth and ruining the plants.
If you have this problem and need to scare a cat away from your garden, you can try talking to the cat owner, although this is unlikely to do anything to stop the problem from happening. Moreover, although it is less likely and common, it is possible that the cat that is invading your garden is a stray cat without any owner to talk to. Whether it is a street cat or belongs to your neighbor, the following instructions will help you keep cats away from your garden in a way that is cheap, environmentally friendly and non-toxic.
- Citrus peels (orange, tangerine, lemon, grapefruit)
One of the first tips we can give you to keep cats away from your garden is the following. Whenever you eat citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit, etc., keep the peels.
Sprinkle them around the places where cats usually get into your garden. The smell of citrus will deter them. This smell will last around 2 to 3 days, after this time you'll have to change the peels.
You can also rub the peels on the surfaces of the garden; if the surfaces are porous, this will impregnate them with the smell of citrus.
Another way to stop cats from entering your garden is to avoid feeding them, both directly or indirectly. It's obvious that if you feed a stray cat, it will come back for more, but you may also be luring cats by leaving bin bags outside your home, especially if they have organic elements inside.
If your trash can is outdoors, you should close it hermetically so that cats can't get in it.
Crushed pepper is also a good tactic to deter cats. The idea is to put the pepper in areas where you usually see the cats, in this way, the cat won't want to come in any longer, as the pepper will cause its nose to itch and make it sneeze. Therefore, you'll make the cat associate your house to this uncomfortable reaction and will stop coming.
One of cats' natural enemies is water. These animals hate water, so if you want to keep cats away from your garden, a good option is to have a hose or to install an automatic sprinkler in your garden. Water won't harm cats but will scare them off.
Another trick using water is to fill bottles of water halfway up. Place them in the areas where cats usually come into your garden to make sure they get scared with the reflection of light on the bottle.
Some plant aromas repel cats, so if you want to do so, plant lavender, citronella or thyme, plants with a strong scent that are not animals' favorites. The Coleus canina is also meant to be very effective.
You could also place aluminum foil on the ground near the plants. Cats don't like to step on aluminum foil, so it will keep them away. Hanging CDs at the cat's level will also reflect the light and deter them too.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Keep Cats Away from your Garden, we recommend you visit our Pets category.
- You can also use this trick if you have cat at home and want to keep it away from any room in the house.