Gardens full of blooms this summer can attract a number of pests and pets, giving plants a lot of unwanted attention. However, a garden designer has shared some handy hacks to prevent cats from doing their business in your garden that won’t break the bank.
Garden designer Ish, who goes by Gardening with Ish on TikTok, shared some helpful tips that will keep cats away without causing them any harm, while also keeping your garden safe. So you won’t need to fork out for any chemical products, simply using a few things from around the house – and garden – as a natural deterrent. One favoured method by Ish is white vinegar.
How to deter cats from gardens
Cats will happily do their business in gardens, but if you want to protect your blooms from being ruined by cat poo, Ish recommended creating a homemade spray to ward them off. Ish said: “Cats can’t stand the smell of white vinegar, anything acidic they’re just not a fan of.”
Using a spray bottle, fill it up about a third of the way full of water, and the rest of it, just top it off with some white vinegar. Give the solution a good mix.
Then spray the solution on any gravel or on the edges of the plants, avoiding spraying it directly onto them. Ish explained: “The watered down vinegar won’t have any smell to us but they’ll be able to smell it, and they’ll sure as hell stay away.”
Ish also shared a few other tips to deter cats from your blooms too. There are a number of plants which repel cats anyway, such as lavender, rosemary, and lemongrass.
This is also due to their strong scents, working as a natural repellent to your furry friends. Ish pointed out that you don’t have to use strong scents as the only deterrent for cats.
You can also make sure that when you’re planting, keep the crop densely packed together. Densely-packed borders will stop the cats from being able to walk through your plants, preventing them from wanting to go to the toilet in that area.
For new budding gardeners who don’t have a collection of dense crops, you can fill in the space with dried twigs and bark. Scatter these all around your plants.
Ish explained that the sharp and coarse nature of the twigs will stop cats from walking all over the area. Ish said: “Another pro of this is that these will rot into the ground, meaning you’ll add a slow boost of nitrogen as well keeping those cats away.”