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One of my customers has about 13 cats. She loves her cats. However, she also wants lots of colorful flowers growing beautifully in a 20'x12' flower bed located in a shady area underneath trees. I've planted impatiens, begonias, snapdragons, hostas, geraniums, coral bells. However, the cats have destroyed the entire bed.

Does anyone have suggestions for other plants (preferably perennials) that would tolerate the abuse of these critters? Or know how to keep the cats out of the flower beds?

My father suggest orange peels, although there might be better more up to date ways of doing this.

Hi Pat,

Sharp's suggestion is still a good one today. Here's more ideas.
https://www.ghorganics.com/page6.html#CATS%20and%20DOGS
https://www.catscat.com.au/catscat.html
https://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/pets/catpoop.html

Newt

Thanks for the suggestions. A motion detection sprinkler sounds like the perfect solution for my cat problem.

Pat, you are very welcome! I like that idea too.

Newt

Cat do not like snakes. Get a couple of toy snakes from the dollar store and place them around the flowerbeds. Adding citrus peels also works.

I have a 10 x 12 porch on the house we just bought. It is enclosed, but no completely. We added lattice to the iron framework from ground to rail, looks nice, but now the cats can crawl underneath and I cannot. They sure enjoy pooping under there and we really do enjoy sitting on the porch, but only if there is a stiff breeze.

I tried processing orange peels and spreading them underneath by sweeping them through the gaps in the deck wood. It seemed to work for a week and smelled great as well. But they wore off I suppose, I don't know if by processing them they lost the citrus that supposedly repels the cats. We've also had alot of rain recently... I'm going to try again with bigger pieces.

As for the pepper I've read about (black, chili, red pepper flakes), tried em all, wasted alot of spices. I've read coffee grounds would work, but this seems expensive and I think those would have to be replaced frequently as well. I cannot put a motion sprinkler there, we'd get soaked as well.

Next project, I've pruned several rose bushes to some extent, I'm going to try lining the entry spots with the briars...

I haven't really answered the question, but I hope I've kept you from taking the time and spending the money to try some of the other suggestions I've heard of. I could use a bit of advice here if anyone has a brilliant idea. I would really like to border the porch with a flower garden, so any plants that repel?
Thanks in advance.

Hi Bunny,

I would think that any time the ground is moist you will get the aroma. You may need to open up the lattice, clean out the droppings and apply an enzyme type product that will eliminate the odor. Vinegar might also help. Then reseal the lattice with hardware cloth attached, possibly on the interior, and buried a few inches into the ground to keep them out.

Generally folks use already used coffee grounds.

Newt

there is this biodegradable spray that is not harmful to animals or most plants. I forget what it is called but you can buy it in most pet stores, you are supposed to spray it on flowers and it makes the plants smell bad to the animals, I used it once to stop my cats from eating an indoor plant. its got some silly name like 'biorepell' or 'catrepello' I will try and find out the name but it worked and didnt damage the plant...