I've noticed that cats don't do their business on ground mulched with well rotted farmyard manure. OK, it's probably not for everyone, but your plants will love you for trying it!
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
As I have two bark mulch paths I'm experimenting (out of desperation) with laying brown plastic netting pegged down over the mulch. As another poster said, it's nearly invisible and so far appears to be working - fingers crossed! I don't seem to have a problem with cats in the borders as they are too densely planted, I pack far too many plants in. The soil is clay as well and gets rock hard when dry which cats don't like.
I am a landscaper and have this problem at multiple properties I manage. Every time I put down new pine straw the stray cats absolutely wreck it–within a month or two. I have tried dog decoys, wolf/coyote urine, and citrus scents. The coyote urine has been the most effective option, but it's not a long term solution because I can't go to these properties every week or so to reapply it. They are large properties. I have heard that pine tree bark (3-5") is a possible solution. I am going to instal the pine tree bark at one property and will be placing motion sensor sprinklers at another. We will see.
It’s the problem of Wolves coming up out of the marshes that we are concerned about @Fairygirl … if they get in the garden the damage they could do … !!! 😱
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.