If you’re fed up with unpleasant smells wafting across your garden after your neighbour’s pesky cat leaves a mess on your freshly mowed lawn, don’t worry — there’s a cheap and natural solution that could solve the problem. Cats have a strong sense of smell — up to 16 times as strong as humans — and they will tend to stay away from a garden if there is a scent they do not like.
And before you ruin your garden with a smell we humans aren’t fond of, it turns out that felines dislike citrus, such as oranges, limes and lemons with the leftovers from your next gin and tonic having a handy second use. Experts at backyardboss.net say this means you can use fruit peeled or even chopped-up citrus fruits and put them in the soil where the cats tend to defecate to deter them.
Not only will it keep your grass cat poo free, but this is also a good way to put your food waste to good use and compost your plants with nutrient-high fruit peels.
Many gardeners won’t want the sight of lemon peels scattered across a pristine backyard, but if you’re worried about your garden looking unclean, you could tuck the peels under plants and it will still have the same effect.
For a more potent dose, there is another citrus option if you do not like the idea of placing fruit peels around your garden. Garden experts recommend making a quick and easy DIY solution made up of water and essential oils.
The mixture of citrus oils, along with lavender, cinnamon and peppermint are the ones to choose from as cats tend not to like them. Simply mix a few drops of the essential oil into water and spray directly onto the soil.
Pam Farley, a gardener and founder of Brown Thumb Mama, has found another handy solution that may fit more into your garden’s aesthetic, pine cones. Pam said: “Cats don’t like pokey things in their bathroom, because they need room to scratch the soil. Covering the soil with pine cones doesn’t give them room to ‘do their business’.”
Again it’s the strong woody scent that can irritate the feline’s noses, making them likely to keep away without causing them any harm.
For this method, simply scatter pinecones along the edges of your garden or in areas where cats tend to frequent. The scent, texture, and crunch of the pinecones will help deter them from entering your property. Cats also do not like unexpected noises.