Damn it!

[where2start]

Yesterday in total frustration because my cat keeps doing her business on my veggi patch i took matters into my own hands.

Yesterday i dug up the last of my potatoes plants (even though they werent technically ready) because she kept going in there. I cleaned it out dug it over and prepared it for some seedlings.

I planted the seedlings lovingly, then covered the whole raised bed with a poly sheet. It all looked lovely and i though "that will sort you". I then placed sliced lemons all around the other raised beds because i had read that it would stop her.

Woke up this morning to find the heavens must have opened last night and my poly sheet is totally dragged down with water......my little seedlings looked so sorry for themselves. I have just tried to get rid of the water to give the poor little seedlings a chance. They should get over it, and now i know that i must use something to make it tunnel like to make sure the rain doesnt do this again.

Its my cat, shes driving me mad, i cant look at her with affection at all. Then to top it all off next doors dog just waltzed up and over some other seedlings yesterday. He just does what he wants and i am totally fed up with animals

We put all this effort in and either a cat craps on everything or a dog just walks over everything. Grrrrrrrrrr..........

[lynda66]

i was watching on the telly the other day and apparently cats are scared of snakes ..... dunno if it works, but you could try a couple of rubber ones

or lots of sticks about 6 inches high throughout the beds, they don't like getting poked up the bum

or try putting some wooden stakes in (bits of branch or wahtever) and put the polythene over that (make sure you cover the tops with something smooth so it doesn't rip), making sure it is securely held down, (middle ones higher than the outside ones so the rain runs off.

as for the dog, get a supersoaker and squirt the thing.

[HeyWayne]

Yesterday in total frustration because my cat keeps doing her business on my veggi patch i took matters into my own hands.

You know when you say something in your head...

[blue411]

I know how you feel, i have two cats and one very large dog, luckily my dog doesnt seem to bothered by my beds the cats however...... to keep the cats away i covered my beds with netting, and placed small pop bottles all around the edges (looks like a pop bottle border) and just as an extra precaution i dug over a small patch of grass and made the soil loose and now they just always head over to that patch and dont go near my beds, its only the size of a lap top computor screen, nothing to big, but it seems just enough to keep them away from every where else.

[FionaH]

My cat has killed all my new bulbs under a small tree. I see it a s a bark covered oasis, she sees it as a giant litter tray grrrrr

[SarzWix]

You have all my sympathy where2start. Our 2 kittens have completely trashed all my chilli sowings 3 times in the last couple of weeks (even managing to get the lids off the propagators). As they were the only things I have managed to grow so far this year, it's a big blow. I can't bear to look at the little gits at the moment...
Anyway, for your beds, I've used those wire shelves that are in mini-greenhouses very effectively on empty beds, and butterfly type netting on beds with crops - cats really hate getting their feet tangled in stuff. Also, lavender stems scattered over the whole bed works for a little while as they don't like the strong smell. As Lynda says, twiggy sticks in the ground also works, coz they get spiked every time they move, prunings off your shrubs would work.
And, get a water pistol, squirt any of the creatures you catch on your beds!

[where2start]

I have had a shower and couple more cigs and starting to feel a little calmer!

The cat (who thinks we actually like her company) is sleeping on the settee....i will soon sort that out on my way out the door to work!

My hubby has put a pipe through the which has raised the poly a bit and we will sort it out tonight. I have pea netting which i might have to use, or the old man will find me something to make like a small poly tunnel. Its a good job hes so handy really

Its just another good reason to buy a greenhouse or poly tunnel i say!

Today i can honestly say i cant stand my cat, she pesters for food first thing, she bites my ankles she poo's on my garden and she swipes people when they get close to her. She even drove away my other cat (who was adorable and i could probably have put up with him).

I like the water pistol idea!!! I couple of times we have thrown little bits of mud at her to shoo her away, then last night when i was putting the lemons out i accidentally threw a very thin slice at her, made me feel better anyway!!!!!

CATS out, Veggies in......long live the veggie patch.....whhhooooohhooooo!

[zazen999]

Wheretostart.

I read somewhere that putting half filled bottles of water laid on the ground can scare cats away. Not tried it myself but it might be worth a try.

I use silent roar - the lion dung stuff and it seems to keep the beds cat poo free. My main problem is duck laying eggs all over the garden...as ours is next to a canal. They bury them in the exact place I want to plant out my veg...so I am always wondering whether these are going to hatch and think a courgette is its mummy.

[JamesA]

I feel for you!. Many moons ago my ex tried growing plants to sell and the local cats, of which there are many, kept trashing everything. Im glad i now have 2 dogs and the cats dont dare set foot in my patch as my little whippet would make short work of them. Do you want to borrow her?

[Gwen11ian]

Ever consider a wire fence? Get some fence with squares about 2"x2" and about 4' high, drive some metal posts (studded T-posts work great) into the ground about ever 4' with one at each corner. A gate is pretty easy to construct in an afternoon with a wood frame covered with fence and two pieces of wood wired to T-posts on either side.. one for the hinges and one for the latch. I fenced in my parents veg garden two years ago because rabbits and woodchucks were eating everything, and they haven't had a single problem since. The wire will last for years, and as long as you give the gate a new lick of paint every three years or so that will last just as long. It will keep your cat and neighbors dog out.. plus look attractive. My parents even use the fence to grow their peas up!

[snakeshack]

I have found old tea bags dried out and sprayed with ralgex dotted around the beds keeps the cats off.As its oily its relatively rain proof too.
I can't stand the smell of it either

[janeyo]

I have rubber snakes all round the garden and in the greenhouse, the birds laugh at them and the cats have been caught playing with them. Maybe they think they are dead snakes and what I really need is a mechanical one or a real one!
I find the garlic smelling granules called 'cat off' or something like that work quite well for me.

[LizyDrippin]

I don't have a cat or any animals, it takes me all my time to look after myself

But there ar eloads in the neighbourhood, I had a hose wrecked last year because two cats decided to have a fight next to it and it got sliced to pieces.

Cayenne pepper is supposed to quite good, sprinkle it around where you don't want them to be (has to be reapplied after rain)

I have one of those cat scarer things and everything is netted. They still walk in the garden but at least they don't seem to be stopping anywhere

[bobleponge]

Not sure about cats being scared of snakes. On the day I moved into my house, I was unloading the furniture and the previous occupants two kittens were thrashing a poor grass snake round the garden. Over the next 3 years we amassed cats and they showed no real fear of our resident snakes. My dog on the other hand is a right woos.
Cats on the veggies are a pain, I regularly used to test the theory that male urine keeps them away, directly.

[where2start]

Just thought i would get my lunch time fix, and bobleponge.......your sooooo funny!!!!!

I have just sat here laughing out loudly which makes a nice change. So plan b/c send hubby and son out to "guard" the garden with zippers at the ready...still giggling!!!!