Completely had enough of cats now!
CraighB
Posts: 758
Well I completely give up with the garden and the cats in the area! They have been digging up my garden and leaving tons of mess everywhere despite my attempts at stopping them. They even trampled a fern once until it was as flat as a pancake and then messed right in the middle of it!!!
I took to putting hundreds of bamboo skewers in the ground, spike up just to stop them until the garden filled out a bit which seemed to work for a while. Well last week they completely trampled flat the nepeta and then ate half of it. I ripped it out and then last night they trampled the nepeta on the other side of the garden but they didn't stop there oh no! They completely flattened my hardy geraniums and even ripped my love in a mist to shreds! They have flattened the whole lot so I had to rip that out this morning as well!
The thing is they haven't even messed anywhere this time! I can understand the nepeta but not love in a mist and geraniums. After the first lot of nepeta was wrecked I placed tons of bamboo skewers in and around the other nepeta to deter them. They are strong and solid in the ground. They even bent and snapped them all! I have no idea how they have done that!
I completely give up!
Posts
Are you sure that was cats? That sounds more like young foxes or badgers.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Well I have a walled garden and there are no gaps for foxes or badgers to get through at all. I can't say they haven't got in somehow though!
However there are lots of cats in the area and I caught one once eating and rolling around in the nepeta and it ran off so I assume it was them?
I live in a terraced house and the rear garden walls are all connected and the cats use them as walkways to get around.
I do have a night vision camera which I might put on tonight to see what she going on. The thing is it's not like I can stop whatevers doing it anyway
Dove is right and probably foxes. Yes cats with the nepeta though. Doesn't make any difference if you have walled garden, foxes can jump all heights same as the cats can
I'm sure after a bit of water and sunshine the flattened plants will spring back.. re plant what you have pulled out before it dries out
I think if a cat can get in chances are a fox could too. They are remarkably agile. The amount of damage you're describing seems excessive even for an army of arse-hole cats.
Have you tried putting gripper rods on the walls to stop them walking over them? I'm sure you can buy specialised ones as anti cat / thief deterrents like these...
https://www.primrose.co.uk/-p-365.html?adtype=pla&kwd=&gclid=Cj0KEQjwmIrJBRCRmJ_x7KDo-9oBEiQAuUPKMpglqdamy2HYyYjR5D7a3lTxgLsPKZTlBUitxAUfXO4aAkrp8P8HAQ
(Just the first company I found in google: I have no opinions on the quality of the company).
That sounds like foxes to me - exactly the kind of things they do in my garden, including defecating in the middle of things / where you have been working / on stuff you're using. They scramble and leap over 6 foot fences here. They drive me a bit crazy (though actually it's the squirrels that have caused way more damage this year).
There is a lot you can do; I'm contemplating getting spikes for on top of the fences and one of those motion activated sprinklers. 'My' cats don't do much damage but they do leave me a fresh and foul smelling turd on a daily basis.
I'm growing nepeta from seeds, I might think twice about planting it out as we're surrounded by cats. I feel your pain though, I have cistus that one of the older local cats likes to use as his bed, the middle of the plant is totally flat now from it.
I created a new flower bed earlier in the year and within a couple of hours the same cat dug a hole and messed in it. My mum suggested grating an orange peel up and scattering it on an around the new bed. Could be an old wives tale but it seems to have done the trick so far!
lol!
I just read that they don't like Helichrysum (curry plant). Might be a better thing to grow than Nepeta if you hate cats!