A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 I am the neighborhood cat lady...this is bad.

Now, this is my first "real" post on this forum and I hope I have the right section...

I have cats...well I don't have them- Denver has them, lots of poor little homeless ones that I try to give a hand to. My bad, I admit. I like the little critters but they have become pests.

I have tried all the organic ways to keep them out of my flower garden but now realize I just have to boost the heck out of my soils since the kittys love my garden. They don't dig anything up...just tinkle till their heart's are content.

Poor peonies. Too much tinkle, no bloom (trying to be PC here). So, what the heck do I do? I manuered the heck out of it last winter, super triple phosphated in February, and Miracle Grow once every 6 weeks (veggies = organic, flowers =semi-organic) but I am worried anything I put down might be toxic to my plants or the cats. Any ideas? None of my perennials are blooming and my annuals are poor performers at best .

How's that for a first time post? Wait till you see my second question in a couple of days...it has a picture!

Hello

I would suggest purchasing a roll of concrete reinforcing wire or chicken wire mesh, and lay it across the entry points to your planting area. Spray it with anise oil or Eucalyptus oil. Cats find stepping between the openings an annoyance and the smell will drive them away without hurting them. I have also read that you can place pieces of cardboard with Tanglefoot applied around your garden. Cats step in it once and won't do it again. I also read that most cats dislike the smell of tea, so maybe try leaving used tea bags around garden entrances. I have used a sprinkler that is motion controlled too & it worked wonders. As soon as the cats move toward the planting bed the sprinkler comes on & gives them a quick shower...not something they like at all. I have always (being a catlady myself...just love the little buggers) planted a kitty attractive garden away from my gardens. Grow a patch of catnip, cat grass & some mint...they will prefer this to anything else you have planted & will likely hang out there instead:)

I use Critter Ridder as well...I got it from Lowes...

How about creating some new beds? The cats are attracted to the loose soil, I always found that my cats consistently go for the newest beds. It's too bad for me that my new seedlings get dug, but other than that, I've never noticed a problem. How about spreading a thick layer of sawdust over the new kitty litter bed? Sawdust absorbs the smell and the carbon bonds with the nitrogen in the urine and feces. Sawdust can be had a truckload at a time for free. It just takes looking around for it. You might try mulching with it...I've never had a problem using fresh sawdust in the garden...as a mulch, it prevents weeds by robbing them of nitrogen. I generally work lots of manure into the soil first.