Keeping the Cats Out and The Kids In

 

DKITW's school has raised garden beds that no one was utilizing. We discussed helping her classroom set up a small veggie and flower garden. Her teacher stated that no one was using the beds because stray cats were using the beds as litter boxes. Umm gross. Can I just go a little Bob Barker on my fellow citizens of San Antonio and ask everyone to spay and neuter their pet? We love cats as much as the next guy, but not in our gardens esp. if you plan on having kids digging in the dirt.

 

So we worked out a plan. DHITW cleared out all the old dirt from one of the beds and replaced it with fresh soil. Then we covered the whole bed with pine tree branches. Cats do not want to attempt to dig through pine tree branches. (Where did we find pine tree branches? We hypothetically might have still had our Christmas Tree laying around the backyard. Some landscape hoarding comes in handy! You can also buy fresh pine tree branches.) For the next week, I would check on the bed to make sure the branches were deterring the cats before we let the kids plant. It was working so we brought in the kids. We removed the branches directly before DKITW's class planted Johnny Jump-Ups (transplants) and Dragon Tongue Beans (Bush Bean Seeds). They got a big kick out of the names. Then you replace the branches taking care to cover as much of the bed as you can without crushing the plants. The pine needles let in enough sun and water that the plants will grow right through them.

Little Bean Plant Popping Up

Johnny Jump-Ups

                                           

Over time the needles will fall off and compost the bed. As the plants grow larger, the cats stay away looking for an easier place to dig. We have tried this at home as well and had success. I really like this trick because it is all natural and safe for kids and cats.

Other tricks include planting plants cats dislike such as Rue, using cat stay away spray, or mulching with smooth river rocks. There is always the if you can't beat 'em, join 'em method where you pick a spot of your garden to plant cat nip and put in a small sand box/ litter area far away from the rest of your beds.