The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

moneyistooshorttomention

Have you got any plants around anywhere that are the equivalent of holly bushes? Basically something prickly that can be just laid down on the soil Softstuff? I'm wondering if that would work.

Softstuff

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Have you got any plants around anywhere that are the equivalent of holly bushes? Basically something prickly that can be just laid down on the soil Softstuff? I'm wondering if that would work.

I thought the 100+ kebab skewers would have done the trick, but apparently not! Hubby suggested barbed wire :eek: Realistically much more pointed defence is making gardening for me a very difficult task. As it is, I have to carefully navigate. We don't have anything quite like that unfortunately.

greenbee

You need a small child with a water pistol softstuff.

And start growing lemon verbena.

mardatha

I've never had the problem but what about making a light frame of wood fixed to chicken wire - maybe 6-12" high, and plonking it over the beds you want to protect softstuff? Shape of a shoebox lid type f thing?

camelot1001

How about getting shot of the cat?! I do see a cat in our garden but haven't seen any evidence so far but I don't have a very big garden.

Talking of gardens I cut the grass this evening, we haven't had any rain for a few days so thought I would seize the moment can't remember doing it so early in the year. It looks a lot tidier now and smells fantastic.

Softstuff

greenbee wrote: »

You need a small child with a water pistol softstuff.

And start growing lemon verbena.

I got the lemon verbena Greenbee, and also rosemary and curry plants, which they also apparently hate. So it doesn't poop right there, but about 50 cm away :rotfl:

I do like the idea of the child... not sure my friend would lend me hers to sit out there all night. I guess that depends how annoyed she is at the kids

Mardatha, the problem is this bed is 20m x 1m, and some things like the pineapple sage and thai basil grow to about 60cm tall. I'm certainly planning a nice construction as you mention for the raised beds still to be done, I would have planted this bed differently had I known what was coming.

So, we added more stakes last night.... and the cat crapped on the gravel path instead. This morning I have more anger than is healthy, so I'm heading to the neighbours then potentially calling the council to get a trap.

Camelot, if I had managed to see it this morning, it would not have enjoyed the meeting.

Softstuff

Update on moggiewar 2016, I tried again to talk to the neighbour, no joy. They're in there, they choose not to answer. So I called the council. Local regs are that cats shouldn't roam, they're getting an officer to come talk to me.

Apologies for the endless rant on the subject. It's just when you put a lot of effort into something like this (which was one of the reasons we moved to a house), it's upsetting to have something take a dump on it. Literally.

nursemaggie

I hope it stops it Softstuff.

moneyistooshorttomention

My sympathies Softstuff and I feel the same (ie that one of my reasons for moving here was to get a garden to grow food in). A cat has moved in near me recently and I shall be very tempted to "tan its furry little backside" if ever I catch it at it in my garden.

I'm not sure whether its steering clear or no. I've not seen any "traces" and I know that it promptly heads for its own home or underneath a nearby car (if available) any time it spots me - so I can see it has received the "Don't want you in my garden" message but cant tell whether its abiding by it or no. That cat quite definitely has an "Uh-oh....its her!!! Yikes!" expression it puts on its face when it sees me...

Does one necessarily realise if a cat has been "doing its business" in the garden? Obviously - it's easily visible if its been "taking a dump" I guess? Not sure how one would know if it had been "depositing any other type of waste matter" iyswim? Is cat urine a contaminant iyswim?

In my last house - I was growing lettuce etc in growbags in the "courtyard garden" (yep...back yard then...) and hadn't spotted any signs of moggie intrusion. However - a next door neighbour told me they had seen the cat "using" my growbags - so I threw them away:mad:

I like cats per se and am looking forward to meeting one a friend has recently taken in - but NIMBY....

silvasava

Feel your pain Softstuff. I am a moggie lover & mine is such a prima Donna that she will only use a litter tray - but I'd like to catch the critter who dumps in my front garden and doesn't even bury it grrrrr.