If you have a large garden and you don’t keep any animals in it, it is likely that some of your neighbours’ cats will appear from time to time. It’s not universally a bad thing, they often just wander around or hunt mice, and when you turn up they take to the hares. It’s a different situation if large numbers of cats congregate on your property, litter it and make annoying noises right under your windows at night. If their presence bothers you, there are several ways to get rid of cats on your property once and for all.
Eliminate everything cats like in your garden
If you’re not interested in letting strange animals roam around your garden, first think about why they like it so much. Perhaps you have an extensive and uncovered children’s sandbox that serves as a luxury toilet for them? Clean it out and cover it carefully with a tarp. Has there been a time in the past when you fed a stray cat in a fit of goodness? That’s nice of you, but don’t ever do it again unless you want it to move in with you forever. Perhaps you have a lovely bird feeder that not only serves as a water dish for the cats, but also keeps them entertained by hunting down the poor birds that have flown in in good faith to refresh themselves? Remove or relocate them, the same goes for the bird feeder.
Guaranteed guide to banishing strange cats from your garden: get a dog
If removing the attractants hasn’t helped and the cats are still congregating at your place, you have no choice but to step up your game. Fence off the plants that are to remain protected (even from the top). Put netting under the soil, and sprinkle the beds with pine cones or other material unpleasant to cat paws. Plant aromatic plants that cats don’t like:
- lavender,
- scented rue,
- pelargonium,
- citron thyme,
- thorny rose,
- dog’s-bit scabious.
If none of the above advice helps, we have one guaranteed: get a dog or your own cat to defend your territory.