How to stop cats messing my garden?

I have a problem with cats, digging up all my flowers and destroying all my plants, and they are not even mine.! How do I stop them from coming into my garden and destroying everything with out harming my plants?

How to stop cats messing my garden?
Hi Roma... Common odours that are effective deterrents for cats are:



Citronella works best for cats as well as citrus scents such as orange or lemon (primarily towards cats), cayenne pepper, coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, lavender oil, lemon grass oil, citronella oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, and mustard oil.



"Havahart's Cat Repellent" uses capsaicin pepper and oil of mustard as its active ingredients. It repels by both taste and odor, has a lemon scent.



Every animal responds differently to each of these. Some will not be phased by them and others will be quite revolting.



For training purposes they are applied on items that are to encourage avoidance behaviours and not for use with a squirt bottle as they could harm the eyes or respiratory system. Test each substance and observe to see which works as a deterrent so that accidental injestion does not occur as some could then be fatal.



Coleus plants can be effective, but every cat responds differently so it is uncertain without experimenting.



Many people believe mothballs work, however they are considered toxic and should NOT be used. Here's more information on this:

http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ope/enotes/showa...

MOTHBALLS are toxic to cats which contains the ingredient Naphthalene. Mothballs are approximately twice as toxic as paradichlorobenzene, and cats are especially sensitive to naphthalene. Signs of ingestion of naphthalene mothballs include emesis, weakness, lethargy, brown-colored mucous membranes and collapses. Paradichlorobenzene mothballs may cause GI upset, ataxia, disorientation, and depression. Elevations in liver serum biochemical values may occur within 72 hours of indigestion.
Reply:root ginger can help.
Reply:Put down slices of lemon in the flower beds. Cats hate lemon or oranges.
Reply:you can buy pest control devices for around ￡29.99 at DIY stores/pet stores i think they give out electric signals that cats rats mice etc dont like.
Reply:Get cat scat mats from Gardeners Supply Co of Vermont.You leave them scattered around the garden.Cats don't like them.
Reply:Station a cat-hating dog in your garden.
Reply:Plant Peppermint all along your garden.
Reply:Hi, just fill a few yogurt pots with vinegar around the garden, i did try citrus but i found the cats around where i live use to lap it up
Reply:There is a plant called Coleus Canina (also known as Scaredy Cat Plant) which has purposely been been created to repel cats from gardens.



Experiments with over 300 plants have now produced the ultimate deterrent. Cats, dogs and even foxes will avoid the Pee-off plant as it's affectionately known. This attractive Coleus has excellent foliage and small, attractive spikes of blue flowers in the summer, and releases a stench that cats can't stand. Thankfully it only smells to the human nose when touched! Annual, but can easily be propagated and cuttings kept in a frost-free place over winter. Plants need to be established before the smell is released, be in drier rather than wet soil and planted every 1-2 metres (36 inches apart). Supplied as cell-raised plants.



Further plant details;



Half-hardy Annual

Flowers: August to September

Height: 24 inches

Position: Sun or Partial Shade



You should be able to find this plant at a garden centre locally or on-line.



Good luck.
Reply:Use orange peel. … Cats hate citric smells so put peel all over your garden..

(or you could just by the keep off stuff from any good pet store) (though I don’t know what it would do to sensitive plants)
Reply:cats absolutely hate citrus scents, you can either buy a cat repellent spray (might be costly) or peel a few oranges (bruise the peel by bending it so that the scent comes out more) and scatter over the area you wish to repell them from - quite cheap, youl eat more oranges and the peel will naturally degrade.
Reply:Some people have used poisoned bait successfully, but cat 'lovers' might not like this. Bird lovers on the other hand will applaud. So that's a no, no.

Get a water (note, not air) pistol and squirt at them when you see them - even when they're not digging up your garden. Enough time and they may not want to come into your garden.
Reply:Some good pet outlets have products like these special stones which deter them or you can get a metal fake cat with glowing eyes which deters them.
Reply:You could first try building a fence out of chicken wire. Or you could use a special pet repellent spray that keeps animals aways from your garden. You could get some motion activated sprinklers. Put out a litter box or make a easily accessible sand pit to give them something else to dig their claws into. Or get a nice guard dog. Hope this somewhat helps! Much luck!
Reply:I was told to fill an empty pop bottle with water and lay it in the flower beds or anywhere they dig etc. i had a problem with someon's tom cat spraying all over my back and front door every night and the smell was disgusting, we tried everything until I placed one outside each door and it stopped. i'm not sure how it works but I think it has something to do with reflection and cats eyes, i may be wrong. but who cares? it's stopped. You can also buy stuff from garden centres to put in your garden. Also, the Rspca told me that cats cannot walk on eggshells for some reason, so scatter some just in front of your flower beds etc.
Reply:get a dog and let it lose that will sort the problem out
Reply:theres a spray called cat a polt i brought some on the weekend and all you do is spray it in your borders or where ever and it stoped mine got it from sainsburys think it was less than a fiver
Reply:Cayenne pepper, or an Air Soft BB pistol.