Even if you are an animal lover there are two reasons why you want to keep cats out of yard, namely cat poop and destroyed plants. There is nothing more annoying than to step on cat poop while you are out gardening in your backyard and to watch your plants getting damaged because of feline acts. Here in this article we will discuss some popular approaches which have worked in many cases to keep cats out of garden.
1. Chicken Wire
This has to be one of the most effective means of keeping the cats away from your flower beds. You don’t have to go about erecting a chicken wire fence around your plants, all you need to do is place a mulch of chicken wire in the soil.
Take a length of chicken wire and circle it around the plant to a width of around 2 inches, in other words the thickness of the circle you create should be around 2 inches. Don’t worry about the cat getting hurt, they are shrewd creatures and keep their distance from chicken wires. Chicken wires can be obtained from any hardware store.
2. Electric Wire Fence
Though some people employ electric fencing with the purpose of keeping rabbits, deers and cats away from their vegetable garden, many people refrain from using them mostly out of fear of hurting the animals. But the fact is that these electric fences are designed for home gardens and they carry very little charge, they will repel animals but won’t hurt them more than a little twinge. The difficult installation process makes it a less popular option among home gardeners who just want a simple solution to keep cats out of garden. This technique is mostly used for getting rid of cats in the vegetable garden.
3. Using a Cat Repellant
Believe it or not there are cat repellants out in the market that work wonders at keeping cats at bay. One such example is “shake away”, this cat repellant is in the form of a powder that can be sprayed in the problem area. Don’t worry, this powder is organic and will not cause any harm to your plants or the soil. In fact, this powder bears the scent of the urine of animals like coyote, bobcat and fox – the ones’ that cats are afraid of. This is known to be a very effective means to stop cats from fouling in the garden.
This is definitely one of the most convenient means of keeping stray cats at bay. Just sprinkle liberal amounts of this powder around all the entrance points of your garden and the boundary, the cats will avoid you garden like plague. So if you are pulling your hair off wondering how do I keep stray cats out of my yard, this option will suit you to home.
4. Water Keeps Cats Away
If you find cats nosing around in your garden, just treat them to a blast of water from the watering hose. This will send a strong message to them to keep out of your garden. Cats despise water and they hate getting wet, so if they understand that getting nears plants will get them wet they will stay away from them.
A more tech savvy option is to use “scarecrow sprinklers”, you just need to install these gadgets at strategic points in your garden and they will do a fine job of spraying water at any intruder entering your garden and thus keep cats away out of yards. You can safely maneuver around them so you don’t get sprinkled at.
5. Cayenne Pepper Flakes
This might sound really harsh but spraying these pepper flakes around your plants is a fool proof way to keep the cats at bay. Don’t get alarmed if you see a cat get into a fit of sneezing suddenly, it would just mean that he’s been around the pepper sprayed area nosing around your plants.
The only problem is that you would need to keep spraying it every now and then as they get washed or blown away. There is also an opinion that it can be harmful to the cats, so if don’t wish to hurt these feline creatures just don’t use this option.
6. Installing Ultra Sound Devices
This is again a high tech option which several gardeners are taking to. It is simple to install and it has a motion sensor to detect movement in your garden. It gives off a ultra high frequency sound that can scare feline creatures out of their skin. Don’t worry, humans can’t hear this high pitch noise. This gadget is to know to be very effective and keeps cats from digging in your garden.
8. Mulch Away
You can put your mulch to good use by using it for the double purpose of keeping cats away. Just spread some pine cones and cocoa shells around your plants and see how well they protect them. Cats have tender foots and they hate treading on pointed or prickly matter. Here’s where pine cones come in real handy. Of course pine cones and cocoa shells work great as mulch too, helping to maintain the soil temperature and retain moisture.
9. If You Can’t Beat Them..
Just compromise with them. Build a small sandbox in your garden and plant some catnips around there. Most cats take well to catnips and they will frequent that area. Chances are that the cats will find your sandbox pretty cozy and decide to make it their silent retreat. This way you can keep the cats from entering other parts of the garden and you can also be assured that it will poop in and near the sandbox area.
We hope these techniques help you keep cats out of yard and bring some much needed respite.