The all new 2019 growing your own thread!

rosie383

Bloomin' cats!

Seriously. Give me your best remedies for stopping the flippin things pooing in my raised bed!!!

I was out there til dark last night transplanting seedlings etc only to look out the window this morning to see next door's big ginger cat squatting right in the middle of it. Aaaaarrrrrggghhhh!

I haven't been out to see the damage (and to throw the poo back over the hedge) as my birds were free-flying but I doubt it'll be good.

I had liberally sprinkled Wilko's cat and dog repellent granules all over it last night but maybe the stupid cat has no sense of smell.

Give me your help please.

I can open the door and hiss at them if I see them, but obviously they also poop when I'm not looking.

Suffolk_lass

I only know about limestone chips (which can change the soil properties) - it is great for gravel though - when the cats scratch it makes their paws sore. I have heard big cat poo is meant to be better than the granules but I have not tried it. Laying in wait with a water pistol is my only other thing I have done. You could put bits of scrunched up chicken wire in with the seedlings for a few days to give them a competitive advantage.

I have hail here, combined with biting cold wind and oh, the sun has just come out. How is a girl supposed to plan her day!?

mmm sausage sandwiches...

baggins11

Lovely warm sunny day here. I have been trying to reclaim more beds from the ivy and bramble takeover which is the running theme here.

I have come across 3 slow worms already this morning! Does anyone else have lots of them? Freaking me out a bit as I am putting my hands in lots of overgrown scrub and I narrowly missed getting bitten by an adder earlier this week (not on my land but it has made me more conscious of what I am grabbing hold of!)

Cup of tea time I think..

Pablosmummy

With my large planter I had to stick bamboo skewers all through it and at angles so there was nowhere for the cats to go although now it's covered in net anyway because of birds which has also solved the cat problem...
Very cold here this morning, I covered my Pak choi seedlings with fleece just incase and everything else seems fine ( I hope!)
Just ordered two patio magnolia trees which tbh I have no room for but I was eyeing them up earlier in the year and for 6 pounds they were worth a try! Bareroot so not sure how they'll do being planted at this time of year. We shall we what arrives!

Suffolk_lass

baggins11 wrote: »

Lovely warm sunny day here. I have been trying to reclaim more beds from the ivy and bramble takeover which is the running theme here.

I have come across 3 slow worms already this morning! Does anyone else have lots of them? Freaking me out a bit as I am putting my hands in lots of overgrown scrub and I narrowly missed getting bitten by an adder earlier this week (not on my land but it has made me more conscious of what I am grabbing hold of!)

Cup of tea time I think..

We have had them in the compost heap and the old pond but not aware of them in the overgrown undergrowrh nettles, goosegrass, brambles and bindweed here. Not to forget wood sorrel and ground elder in currently contained areas.

rosie383

An adder????? Wow.

I had forgotten they were here. Being from Norn Iron it was something I never had to worry about what with St Patrick getting rid of them all for us!

-taff

I used to have loads of slow worms, very disappointed none in this garden...


The only thing I've used that will consistently deter cats from !!!!!!!! in my beds is off cuts of spiky type stuff. I pruned a rosemary bush in January I think and put the bits all over the front beds. No cat poo.
I have chicken wire fenced in a bed before, that did work because they don't jump like horses....

baggins11

There are years worth of decomposed leaves in the area I was clearing so I guess the slow worms think it's a compost heap! The bonus is underneath all the ivy and bramble and leaves the soil is lovely. Much better than everywhere else so once it's properly cleared things will grow a treat.

I nearly stood on the adder Rosie so i think he was as suprised to see me as i was him.

I had a few dogs with me at the time which were ahead of me so thankfully none of them tried to play with it. I did take a lovely photo from a safe distance before I legged it.

rosie383

Right. I got myself some netting so I'm going to try to rig some of that up.

I have lots of holly so I think I will trim some twigs of that off along with rosemary and try to deter the b*ggers!

unrecordings

When I was at the mercy of the phantom pooper last year - holly did the trick. If possibly use the longer springy new growth rather than odd leaves, bramble runners are good too - or (untested theory) - maybe plant up some catmint to break that association of 'here=toilet'