Cats - prevention

We have several cats that like to spend time in our garden - mostly watching the bird feeders. The garden book I'm currently reading has several problems, so I'm not going to advertise it. The double page on cats basically says there isn't a lot I can do about it.

However, it does indicate that 'whatever' likes to dig big holes where I've I've just planted things out is probably a cat using the nice clear earth as a toilet, and then trying to bury the result. This can be prevented, he says, by sticking cocktail sticks vertically next to the plants. Both walking and crouching down on the sticks is not to their liking. That sounds like it's worth a try.

This writer isn't optimistic about the use of lion dung to scare off cats. I haven't tried that, but I actually had good results with elephant dung. I used it as fertiliser It's gotten to be too much effort for me, and it had a lot of red amaranth seeds in it which rather took over the garden, so I've stopped. But it did stop the holes in the fresh beds. I guess that might be because the cats didn't want to do their business in a toilet that stank of someone else's poop.

A perennial problem. A thick layer of very chunky bark mulch helps under my front window where nothing grows, but it's expensive and I don't like the look of it around plants. In behind, fine. Nobody sees it. I guess chunky/rough rocks would work, too. Again, I hate rocks under or around plants, but they might be okay in the back. I have a friend who is clearing them out of her yard. I'm sure she'd let me have a few buckets :)

Keeping soil wet also helps - cats much prefer dry soil to do their business.

Other than that, I have no helpful solutions. The Pinterest stuff, like sticking plastic forks points up in the garden around the plants, is downright silly-looking, not to mention you need a crazy number of forks.

Obviously, I don't want my beds dug up just after I've planted them, so I will try the sticks. I also don't want the cats hunting the birds I spend time and money on feeding. But I can't keep the area around the feeders wet. I did stick the hedgehog house in their favourite spot, and the szechuan pepper cuttings go there - that thing has impressive thorns!

I have lots of cover for the birds (because hawks as well as cats), and my feeders are fairly inaccessible. Spiky plants good, though!

The worst plants I ever dealt with for spikes were the blackberries where my mom used to live. They were evil and very invasive. That variety doesn't grow here, though.

I think the best solution is a live ground cover. There is a creeping sedum that grows wild here; and will be my go-to remedy.

I have a garden, a dog, and four cats so this is an issue for me. I have found that for freshly sown/planted beds, the best thing is to lay a section of chicken wire or other metal wire fencing gently down on it until things sprout, and once the plants reach a certain size, the cats leave the bed alone. I have also found that laying sticks and light bamboo poles criss-cross on the bed will effectively deter them, and sticks have the advantage of eventually effectively becoming part of the landscape.

Because I live on very sandy soil, I also leave an out-of-the-way patch free for the cats, rather like a "trap litter box" that can easily be cleaned out or covered over.

Something else I have used is last year's leaves from the horseradish. Except I finally got rid of most of it, because that was all we were using it for.

The expensive solution is motion-sensor sprinklers; but I'd try chicken wire first though.

You may just have to put up with it though. I lived in a place like that once.