Does anyone know good ground cover plants that cats don't like? i am fed up with cats using my front garden as a toilet! Any ideas?

They tend not to like highly scented plants so geraniums are a good bet as well as tymes, also try ground cover roses...

Do you have gravel in your front garden as that would attract them...

No but i do have bark which is just as bad i have found out to my cost!

i hate cats and one lives next door to me who just loves my garden rather than his own i used to be so scared of him but its not too bad now i used to spray a lemon spray all over the place to keep him out it worked for a while but he just got used to it and came on in again .

How can you all say (not only in this topic) that you hate cats. How can you hate any animal ? :( Patricia

what must all the fish think as all our pooh flows into their sea ?

As I said in in a previous reply to another member, MOTHBALLS are the answer ! I have bark also & had tried everything, but nothing lasted long , so was becoming quite paronoid ! Then a neighbour told me about mothballs & just one lot has deterred cats for weeks even through all the downpours ! Hope this helps !

Awwwwwww i love cats, I have 3 of them.

I don't hate cats at all i am getting one soon! But as i have raised garden and you can smell that cats have been there! I don't think it is nice for me, my children or visitors. Of my dog ran around doing it in other peoples gardens i would be in trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would just prefer to use humane ways of detering them!

sorry bow69, I was replying to lizi :(
I do feel that if you live in an urbanisation (is this right) that it can be a big proble if every household has a cat and they all do it in your garden. We have 8 cats and 2 dogs, our only neighbour lives 500 meters away and his cat comes for dinner at our place.(anyway that is beside the point)
I have no solution, but maybe try the mothballs somebody suggested.
When I am planting daffodils or some such and dig a hole the devils might come and sit over the hole before I can put the bulb in.
:D
Patricia

Hi Pat, so do the cats around me even though I have one of my own... they love newly dug ground... and long grass but never go anywhere near my lavender - maybe this is a clue...

My solution for keeping them off newly dug soil is holly, or rose stems as they hate getting their feet pricked... whereas we can wear gloves...

pat i suppose hate is a strong word for the way i feel but really i am scared of them i would never hurt one in fact as i've said about the one next door i have gotten used to him, while im hanging out the washing he will rub against me before i used to freak out, but now its ok . The only thing i still d'ont like is if he comes in the windows of my bedrooms, i do'nt have a cat because im scared of them but yet i should put up with them in my bed.

Lizi, the problem with cats is the language... your body language tells the cat that you are submissive and looking away is a friendly gesture in the cat world... if you dont want them to come up to you then you must stare them down to show them who is boss...

As for your windows, if a cat can get in so can anyone else... so get some limiters and open the windows sufficient to let the air in but not enought for the cat or anyone else to get in...

Today is the day to go into the garden and look at the cat and see what happens also about the windows i know its silly but where i live i go out and leave the back door unlocked everyone does it here we never lock the car in the drive but my friends car was broken into last sat night and his golf clubs were stolen so we have to change our habits now its a pity though still times are changing not for the better here though!!!!

Good luck... Be brave... and give it lots of :p :p :p

never got to see the cat today, i think he is hiding maybe tomorrow

Lizi, he probably knows what is coming and is trying to avoid you

Angie

still havent seen the cat he really is avoiding me

Get a dog!!!

I have two Westies and never have any trouble with cats. I used to have a ginger tom but he ran away and I haven't seen him since :(

The last time a dog dared to come into my garden, my cat Harry seemed to double in size and he was backing the dog into a corner... I wouldnt have liked to bet on the outcome as I grabbed the cat and then shooed the dog out... plus my cat can climb where a dog cant...

(r)curry plants,cats hate them

Hi (r) good idea... mind you I visited Waddesdon Manor this year to see their famous carpet bedding - it was featured the other year on Curious Gardeners (do you remember those very camp men?.) - anyway they had teamed masses of purple heliotrop (Cherry Pie plant) with the curry plant and the smell was awful...

They obviously didnt think of the sweat smell of Cherry Pies mixing with the pungent smell of curry - yuk... people didnt linger I can add... :(

I have seen something at my local Garden Centre I think it's a spray or powder can't remember what it's called but I'm sure an assistant would help and I know it's safe to animals.

Hi Folks. Seeing that I have six dogs I never seem to get cats in my garden!! But,seriously,there is a product on the market called Renardine which will probably keep the cats away. Don't go too mad with it though cos' it really does pong if you put too much down.

There are more troubles in life than to worry about a bit of cat poo! Dogs pooing in the street more of a prob. I would have thought!
Solution. Get a couple of cats of your own. I have two, although neutered, bruisers. Big fluffy boys. Keeps others out, just by being around.