Last year, I noticed I had a new pest in my garden: cats! Or specially, CAT as I’m guessing that the trouble maker is one specific fluffy gray feline I’ve seen duck out of my yard from time to time.
Now that I just filled my beds with a nice layer of fresh potting soil, the last thing I want is the Cat to go, “yeah! Spring is here – fresh litter box!” So I decided to address the issue before it became a problem. I’ve looked at a variety of solutions including fencing, citrus, planting catnip elsewhere in the garden or even coyote urine. (I kid you not).
Thank goodness I came up with this!
I found this roll in the fencing aisle out in the gardening section at Lowe’s for just a smidge under $17. I got the idea from this YouTube video where a gardener had used chicken wire, but I love the idea of working with a material I can easily manipulate and won’t involve the possibility of getting big scratches! When I described to the gal at Lowe’s what I had in mind to do, she assured me that it would do the trick – cats don’t want to walk on stuff like this.
Pretty much, you roll it out, cut it to length, and secure it down. I found some pavers and large rocks did the trick just fine. You could also use bricks or use long heavy sticks or pipe to hold it in place.
The one roll I purchased above covered three of my beds (they are roughly 3 ‘ X 6′ each), plus partially covered a couple additional beds I already had some plants growing in. The netting allows for sun, air, and water easily to pass through, so once your plants start to come up, you can begin to remove it. In my experience, the cat left the garden well enough alone once the plants filled in. I may also use some straw mulch to keep the ground as covered as possible!
When you need to plant, just roll it back a bit. Here I’m planting a few butter lettuce heads. The bed will later be used for my first go at edamame as well as some flowers.
One I was done planting, I dropped the cover back on over. Simple!
Don’t have cats? This plastic fencing should also protect your seeds from birds!
I’m all about trying the least invasive and least expensive solution first. I’ll definitely keep you posted on how this works. I would love to hear from those of you that have struggled with having cats in your garden. Have you tried a method like this before? How else have you managed to keep them at bay?
PS. I decided to ask Cat what he thought of my new garden hack. Here’s what he said:
PSS. I actually DID see the cat in my yard yesterday and guess what? No poop.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
After my 5yr old had a visit to grammy’s house last year he came home and said he needed a garden box. I wasn’t thinking about keeping cats out but the birds & bunnies. My mom gave me “re-may” (not sure how its spelled). It has holes in it that I use sticks to keep it up and connect it to nails/screws on the sides of the garden box. The material is very soft letting the elements in and keeping the birds/bunnies/cats out. When I plant i unhook the sides and pull it back. I was able to keep it over my strawberries/carrots/lettuce last year for the whole season. Its a little long so I will modify it this year but will use the same one. Also planting earlier this year so I have bendable pcv pipes to arch over the box & a cover to protect from the elements during the early planting.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! I’m guessing that solution has done the trick for you?
It worked well for us!
We also use that vertical staple-gunned to wood stakes for beans and peas.
A good tip, if you add a nail or two to each corner and maybe middle for the long sections, you can hook the holes of your netting to hold it in place and not use the stones or weights.
Good idea!
We had a huge rosemary plant and broke off some rosemary swag and used it to cover open areas of dirt. No more cat poop!
Oh that’s an inexpensive (and nicely scented!) solution as well!
I just read that used coffee grounds will keep them away as well as pesky garden ants. I’m going to give that a try my neighborhood cats love my flower bed yuck! Thankfully they have never bothered my veggies.
Just make sure to reapply the grounds. I’ve put them in the exact beds the cat has pooped before… and the cat continued to poop.
Is this plastic like or covered wire like?
Plastic.
I read that if you use something prickily like pine cones around your beds that they don’t like the feel and will stay away. About to try it.