If you find that cats are using your garden as a litter box, there are some safe and all-natural hacks you can use to deter them from doing their business.Angela Patrone Senior Lifestyle Reporter and Vita Molyneux Travel reporter
11:56, 06 May 2026
Cats will keep away from your garden (Image: Oliver Helbig via Getty Images)
Cats make wonderful indoor companions, being both loving and inquisitive by nature. Give them something to play with and they’ll keep you entertained for hours. However, when they venture outside, they can quickly become a nuisance for those who take pride in their gardens.
They have a habit of treating flowerbeds as their own personal toilet, and in doing so, trample and dig up carefully tended blooms and prized vegetables.
Under current legislation, cats are permitted to roam freely, meaning they are well within their rights to wander into your garden. They are also safeguarded by the Animal Welfare Act 2006, so using any deterrent – whether homemade or shop-bought – that causes harm to a cat could be considered a criminal offence, potentially landing you with a hefty fine or even a custodial sentence, reports the Mirror.
With that in mind, TikTok account @gardening.with.ish has shared four safe, entirely natural deterrents that cats “can’t stand”.
He said: “My gardening tips will show you some simple hacks to prevent and repel cats from your flower beds and borders, whilst ensuring you don’t do any harm to them or your plants.”
Cats will keep away from your garden(Image: PA)
White vinegar
The gardening expert pointed out that “cats can’t stand” the pungent odour of white vinegar, as anything acidic, “they’re just not a fan of”.
His advice is to take a spray bottle, fill it roughly one-third with water and top up the remainder with white vinegar.
Shake it well and apply it to gravel or along the borders of your garden, taking care to avoid spraying it directly onto plants.
The gardener said: “The watered-down vinegar won’t have any smell to us, but they’ll be able to smell it, and they’ll sure as hell stay away.”
Fragrant plants
It’s not solely the pungent aroma of vinegar that felines “detest” – there are certain plants that cats “really don’t like” either.
Our furry friends turn their noses up at particular scents, including citrus, eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, and rosemary.
The expert highlighted that three specific plants prove most effective, namely lavender, rosemary and lemongrass.
It’s their potent fragrance that acts as a “natural repellent”, while the plants themselves are also “quite pretty in the garden”, the expert explained.
Garden borders
Fragrance isn’t the only weapon in your arsenal against cats. Tightly planted borders also prove “effectively” off-putting.
Dense borders mean that “they can’t actually get through it”, and consequently, they won’t be doing their business in those spots.
Use twigs and bark
For those just starting out in gardening without established dense borders, the expert has a handy solution.
He suggests gathering some old, dried twigs and pieces of bark and positioning them around your plants.
The gardener said: “That really sharp and coarse texture means that cats don’t really fancy walking on it, and they’ll naturally avoid it.
“The other pro of this as well is that the sticks will naturally rot into the ground, meaning you’ll add a slow boost of nitrogen, as well as keeping those cats away.”
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