Anti-Cat Poop Garden

I Like Cats and I Like Gardens!
But....I HATE Cat Poop!
I have tried everything to deter the furry little beasts from using my garden as a dumping ground (pardon the pun). I have found a non-toxic, animal friendly, long lasting and inexpensive way to discourage the furry felines from leaving their not so desirable presents in your garden or flower beds.
I grew tired of scooping the mini-loafs out the flower beds left from the neighbors cats, but it's illegal to trap the little buggers, and I didn't want to hurt them. I tried all the other things I read; Cayenne pepper (works until the first rain washes it away) or mothballs (not so much luck). And short of wiring up a low-current (non-lethal) fence or motion sensor water gun, the cats would win. Not acceptable!!
I own two cats (they stay indoors) and I know that they HATE to poop in anything that is wet or step on anything that sticks to or pokes their feet, so Voila, the perfect solution.
Chicken Wire!!!!
That's right, it's cheap, readily available and easily converted to any shape, and for this purpose all it takes is time to convert it into anti-poop wire.
Now comes the little time consuming part.

Step 1: Chicken wire

First start by buying the chicken wire (1/2 inch wide by 1 inch long openings) long enough to cover the area you want covered. I cut it large enough to cover the area not yet filled with plants that is the only dry spot under the overhang of the roof.

Comments

[grannyjones]

Plastic lattice looks great and can be cut to fit inside containers.
Wood chips are nice on the ground--cats don't like them.
I would hate for a toddler to fall on the spikes.
Eyes are irreplaceable!

[chichimus]

wood chips... not so much. Neighbour's cat picks the wood chips around our outdoor table to leave its deposits. Have talked to them several times to no avail. Also crouches on them to hide and kill the songbirds at my feeder. kitty is close to becoming a statistic.

[bkmaruyama]

much effort, but great result.

[Screamo]

Just stick some grass and flowers in the litter box :D

[RelientOwl]

Orange and Lemon peels also keep cats away!

 

[damoelld]

tries all the 'friendly' versions, but wanted something that would still last after a rainstorm or hungry crows/ raccoons

[paravou]

I see a big problem with this, the spikes not only are Harmful to animals but also to any person not wearing shoes or if someone Kneels on it while weeding. Can we say a serious ouch. even with mulch on top the spike can hurt and people are much heavier than animals resulting in embedding the spikes further into whatever body part in contact with the spikes.

[damoelld]

Spikes are not harmful to animals, they are smarter than the average bumpkin who would kneel on the wire knowing its there. If they didnt know its there they are peeping through my windows and deserve pain. Cats are very light footed ( I have 2) and have never seen them step onto something without gingerly testing unknown footing first.

[knex_mepalm]

Fill up a bottle of water and make sure the bottle is transparent, place in the middle of he garden. This phenomenon kept cats away form my house during vacation...and I never knew why...

[anazania]

This is the only method I found that works 100%.  Once the wire is installed there is no maintenance.    Plants will happily grow through the holes.  If you need to plant large seedlings, just cut a few of the wires to form a suitable planting hole.

Cats like to scratch in some kind of liter before they do their business. I don't make the 'spikes' as I have found that they try scratching it once and then find that it's not the right dumping ground.  That said, I recommend that you make U bends (about 10 cm long) from some sturdy wire to stake it down.  The first time I placed the wire on the ground it was summarily removed.

A thin layer of mulch disguises it quite well.  Don't use bark from nurseries, the pieces tend to be too large which just gives more scratching material and defeats the whole object of the exercise.

[Foxtrot70]

I'll need to try this. I live in a rural area and deer and rabbits are a problem. An alternative might be a type of mat that has a cattle fencer attached, once stung by voltage they shouldn't return.

[itsmissmia]

I put down bird block netting http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener-604-BirdBlock-20-Foot/dp/B00004RA0P that I bought at Orchard Supply Hardware for less than $10...make sure to get some u-stakes to hold it down...$3 for a pack of 25. Lay it over your flower bed, stake it down and trust me, your cats won't be interested. It's not as much fun scraping around when they're getting their claws caught in the netting. It's 100% safe and it allows your flowers the opportunity to grow. Good luck!

[fangfriends]

I tried this over my potted plants a few years ago, but the chicken wire kept popping up. I'll have to try it in my garden beds next year, however.