Plants, oils, herbs & other deterrents for Cats in your garden

One of my first visits to a garden as a consultant, took me to a beautiful couples’ home who have cats.  This is the first time someone has asked me for a anti-pest for cats.  The lady told me that orange skins work but are not good for the soil or worms, which led me to google a bit and ask around.

To repel cats one can indeed, place orange peels cut face up near plants.  Orange peels are acidic and tend to burn into the skins of worms, causing severe burns, and death to the worms, but they usually are deeper into the soil than close to the surface.  This should be safe for the worms.

You can also mix 10 drops of lavender oil and/or 10 drops of eucalyptus oil in 200mls of water and spray on mulch and rocks in the garden as needed.

Making use of rough material such as sharp edged wood-chip or twig-mulch as a border or perimeter is also recommended as a repellent.

Another solution is to interplant your garden with plants that cats hate the smell of. A few of these plants can be planted in between the other plants of your garden, making the entire area seem disgusting to the local feline population.

• Rue is an especially effective cat repellent.  It also repels wasps from fruit trees, and is an excellent ingredient in a tisane as it has muscle relaxant properties, and is also an aphrodesiac… making it even more perfect for this young couples solution
• Other options include lavender, pennyroyal, geranium, and lemon thyme.
• Scatter the dried version or dab on an oiled version to the same effect.
• Cayenne pepper, dry mustard, cinnamon, and garlic powder are often used, as well.
• As for oils, consider using lavender oil, lemon grass oil, citronella oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, or mustard oil.

I also discovered that it is useful to sprinkle coffee grounds for the purpose of deterring cats as well, as you own hair cuttings.   Empty your hairbrushes into the garden, because the scent of human hair really sucks in cat world.  Cats actually love mint, honeysuckle and catnip.  Why not plant a small, cat-friendly area in the garden?

If you have enjoyed this post and are in the Johannesburg area, and would like to have me over for a consultation, report and quotation to improve the self sustainability of your home and surrounds please contact me – Netanya on 072 146 9017