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Ideas for stopping cats digging up my containers

ManderMander Posts: 344
in Problem solving
I have a few containers that only contain small plants at this stage, as they haven't been there long enough to fill out. Some d**n cat has been digging them up to use as a litter box. I tried laying cut off branches of thorny roses and flowering quince across the pots but it didn't work this time. So far my best idea is to construct a wire cage around the pots, which I'm going to do this afternoon. Any other ideas? Short of murdering the cats?

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,004
    Sprinkle holly leaves on the surface
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,840
    Rather than laying the twigs across the top, poke them in vertically so the cat can't just push them aside and can't sit to do its business.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,737
    Another £1 for me.
    Devon.
  • widgetwilk annwidgetwilk ann Posts: 361
    Orange peel
  • sapphire.68sapphire.68 Posts: 4
    widgetwilk ann said:
    Orange peel
    Yes, cats dislike citrusy smells, I've used pure lemon juice near my sofa to stop my cats scratching on it.
  • ManderMander Posts: 344
    I've gone with a combination of wire cage, sticks, and rearranging everything. No citrus to hand so we'll see how this works for now.
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,300
    If you can get hold of any - mothballs!!  Or.  Try spraying the area with citronella and water.  Could help.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,987
    Pine cones.  I lived at a house for a few years with three cats of an absent roommate (I took care of the house and cats in exchange for rent, I only had to pay utilities - so I didn't mind).  The (strictly indoor) cats kept using my house plants as litter boxes..digging them up, etc.  I tried plastic forks, bamboo skewers, etc.. stuck into the soil.. nothing worked.  But then I tried pine cones, and they worked great.  Cover the entire soil and sort of mound them up.  They don't bother the plant and sort of lock together to make digging difficult.  The variety I had was also very prickly themselves, and spread out wide.  I think it was probably from a ponderosa pine.  Find a neighbor with a pine tree, I'm sure they would be happy for you to collect some up from underneath.
    Utah, USA.
  • NewBoy2NewBoy2 Posts: 1,813
    Hostafan.

    As an ex Financial Adviser I would advise you to invest your £20,000 you have made from GW  into a cash ISA as the interest rates are still falling at the moment.

     :D 
    Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
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