Gardening genius reveals he hasn’t had to deal with cat poop since buying a cheap plant for less than ten dollars
THERE’S nothing quite as annoying as discovering a sneaky neighborhood cat has done its business in your garden.
Especially if you’ve spent a lot of time pruning and planting, the last thing you want to do is clean up cat poop.
A gardening fan recently took to social media to vent after struggling with the problem and asked for some advice.
Linda posted in the Gardening Hints and Tips group on Facebook and wrote: “I’m fed up with other people’s cat poo in my garden.
Fortunately, other enthusiastic gardeners had the perfect solution: Holly left.
“I tried everything you could imagine, so I tried fresh holly branches, put them between where the soil was and on top of the pots – that was six months ago, I haven’t had cat poop since,” one of them responded to the post.
“I found this works,” agreed a second.
And another shared the same advice and commented: “Spread Holly leaves around.”
Holly plants are known for their prickly leaves, which won’t harm cats or any wildlife, but should stop them from doing their jobs. business. there.
The pros at Gardener’s World also agree that the trick is a pretty cheap and cheerful method of responding.
“Cats prefer to walk on soft ground and will avoid thorny surfaces,” they explained.
“They are also more likely to defecate on soft soil or compost.
“Make beds and borders less attractive to them by covering areas of bare ground with twigs, pine cones or holly leaves, or laying down chicken wire.”
You can buy a Holly plant for just £8.99 from online sites including Hedges Direct, or you can even ask your neighbors use stray leaves and twigs if you already have them.
There are other plants that can also help deter cats from your garden, including
Other Ways to Deter Cats from Your Garden
Don’t feed them
Whatever you do, don’t feed the cat.
While it may not seem like a big deal at the time, feeding a cat will only encourage the moggy to come back.
This includes ensuring your boxes are securely closed.
Even if you haven’t purposely left a tasty treat outside, any easily accessible scraps will attract stray cats to your garden.
Keep your flower beds wet
Cats hate cold, wet mud, so if you keep flower beds moist, curious kitties will be much less likely to dig up your petunias.
You might even consider purchasing a motion sensor sprinkler system.
These smart sprinklers will spray water at any animals that invade your lawn.
After the unwanted invader has been hit by the sprinklers once or twice, he will learn never to set foot in your garden again.
Just remember to turn off the sprinkler system before leaving the house or risk an unpleasant surprise!
Use strong scents
Cats have a hypersensitive sense of smell and certain smells will deter any cat from wandering into the bushes.
If you invest in lavender, rue, pennyroyal, coleus canina and lemon thyme, you will soon have a feline-free lawn.
Cats also hate citrus fruits, so you can try scattering orange or lemon peels around your garden.
However, with something like this, it’s important to do your research.
Some plants, such as mothballs, are toxic to cats and humans and their use is considered inhumane.
Common Garden Pests
Common garden pests don’t need to be a cause for alarm. If you can identify them, you can work to get rid of them and prevent them from returning.
Aphids (green fly, black fly)
Aphids are extremely common and can affect plant growth. They have tiny, soft, pear-shaped bodies and are usually green or black. You may spot them clustered on the stems of tender shoots – look under the leaves in particular – or you may find a sticky substance on your plants that reveals the aphids have been there sucking the sap.
White fly
These small, white-winged insects are related to aphids, only 1 or 2 mm long, and look very similar to white moths as adults. They can be found on the underside of the leaves, preferring younger, fresher leaves. They fly away in groups when you disturb them. Its life cycle lasts just three weeks, which means an infestation can occur very quickly.
Slugs
An unmissable body with a soft appearance, as well as small sensory tentacles on the head. Slugs move on a muscular foot. Its scale ranges from surprisingly small to terrifyingly large; Limax cinereoniger species can comfortably grow beyond 20 cm in length.
Cabbage moth caterpillar
Cabbage moth caterpillars happily enter the hearts of vegetables. The caterpillars are distinguished by shades of yellow or brownish green, without hair.
Cochineal
Scale insects are small, oval-shaped insects that have a white, powdery wax coating. There are several different species, many of which have what appear to be legs sticking out of their sides and back. In the initial phase of life, it is perfectly possible to confuse them with fungi and not even recognize them as insects.
