Despite the fact that I love cats, they can wreak havoc on a garden...especially if they're the neighbor's cats! In my case, I live in a fairly big city, and my garden is on the roof. Anyone familiar with city living knows that most roofs are connected in dense places, and stray cats live on roofs...sometimes just to avoid the dogs that may be in the street.
Two cats terrorized my garden at first, but then I did two things. I took a mature catnip plant (the thing was HUGE!) and put it in a hard-to-reach niche. Then I planted Rue in pots, and set them amongst my plants.
Cats HATE Rue. It smells terrible to them, though humans can't smell it much. The leaves are an irritant to the eyes, skin and nose...even for humans! So don't eat it, and avoid rubbing against it. For me, the pots are out-of-the-way just enough that I don't brush against them.
Rue is also a beautiful plant. It has darling yellow blossoms during the warm season.
SO...now the cats purr as close as they can get to the catnip, and ignore me completely. And as far as the garden, not so much as a chewed leaf, and not a single paw-print in the soil!
Two cats terrorized my garden at first, but then I did two things. I took a mature catnip plant (the thing was HUGE!) and put it in a hard-to-reach niche. Then I planted Rue in pots, and set them amongst my plants.
Cats HATE Rue. It smells terrible to them, though humans can't smell it much. The leaves are an irritant to the eyes, skin and nose...even for humans! So don't eat it, and avoid rubbing against it. For me, the pots are out-of-the-way just enough that I don't brush against them.
Rue is also a beautiful plant. It has darling yellow blossoms during the warm season.
SO...now the cats purr as close as they can get to the catnip, and ignore me completely. And as far as the garden, not so much as a chewed leaf, and not a single paw-print in the soil!
