If you live in an area with a lot of neighborhood cats, then you’ve probably gone outside a time or two and noticed some unwelcome presents waiting for you in your gardens. Unfortunately, not all cat owners are responsible, and this can lead to the critters wandering around in your yard. That’s why it’s essential to learn how to keep cats from pooping in flower beds.
Whether you’re dealing with outdoor cats, stray cats, feral cats, or even your own cats who like to stray where they shouldn’t, there are a lot of ways to keep cats out of yard and garden.
If you don’t want to call animal control on your neighbor’s cat but are tired of them treating your flower beds like a giant litter box, then these natural solutions for keeping cats away are just what you need.
Get Rid of Cats in Your Yard the Easy Way
There are a variety of home remedies for keeping stray cats out of your yard that don’t involve harming the creatures. Take a look at our suggestions and try one or more of our solutions to get rid of unwanted cats at your house.
How to Keep Cats from Pooping in Flower Beds Using Plants
One way of cat-proofing your flower beds is to strategically choose the flowers you plant. There are a lot of flowers and plants that act as a natural cat repellent. Cats are very particular about smells, so if you want to know how to keep cats from pooping in the garden, the best way is to Google what smells they can’t stand.
Plants that Cats Dislike
- Common Rue
- Lavender
- Pennyroyal
- Lemon Thyme
- Marigold
- Geranium
- Thorny Roses
- Scaredy Cat plant (Coleus canina)
For keeping cats from pooping in your yard, place these plants around the border or intermixed throughout the garden. You can also put these plants in a pot and place them in strategic locations around your yard or in any problem area that the cats seem to prefer.
Use Ground Cover to Deter Cats
Just as cats are very particular about smell, so are they picky about texture. There are several textures that cats cannot stand feeling on their paws. Covering the ground surrounding your garden or the dirt inside your flower bed goes a long way toward deterring cats from pooping in the wrong place.
Pine cones and mulch are both useful ground covers to sprinkle around your flower beds. You can also plant plastic forks in the soil with the tines pointing out to scare cats off.
If you’re worried that this will detract from the beauty of your garden, try using clear utensils. They’ll blend right in! There are also different types of ground cover plants that can make your garden less appealing to cats.
Sprinkle Essential Oils Around Your Garden
Another way to stop cats pooping your garden is to use the right essential oil. This again ties back to cats’ picky sense of smell. We like this option because essential oils are easy to find, smell great to humans, and only require a few drops at a time to keep cats away.
Essential Oils that Cats Dislike
- Citronella
- Lavender
- Peppermint
- Lemongrass
- Orange
- Grapefruit
- Lime
The most effective way to use essential oils to keep cats from pooping in your yard is to make a simple spray. In a spray bottle, mix one part of your favorite essential oil to three parts water.
Walk around your yard spraying the areas where the cats poop most often, or any areas where you think they may be sneaking onto your property. Because essential oils smell so fresh, this is also a great solution to deter indoor cats from wandering in areas where you don’t want them in the house.
How to Keep Cats from Pooping in the Garden Using Hair
This one might sound a little strange, but it works! The scent of human hair is another smell that will deter cats from hanging around your garden.
Next time you get your hair cut, ask to keep some of the scraps before they make it to the garbage. Easier still, empty the loose hair from your brushes. Scatter the hair around the perimeter of the flower bed or garden, or anywhere else in your yard, to keep cats away.
Make Your Own Cat Repellent Spray
If you’re still asking how to keep cats from pooping in my yard, this homemade spray makes an excellent outdoor cat repellent. It is easy to make, and you probably already have all of the ingredients somewhere in your kitchen!
Homemade Cat Repellent Spray
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 3 drops lemon essential oil
- Water
Put the cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and dry mustard inside a two-ounce spray bottle before adding in the garlic clove and essential oil. Shake the bottle to mix the ingredients and fill it with water. Shake well to combine.
If you don’t have all the ingredients, substitute black pepper for cayenne pepper and use any essential oil that we listed earlier. This is another cat repelling solution that works great for indoor cats, as well.
Stop Cats from Pooping with Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds work perfectly to deter cats from walking all over your front garden on two fronts. Not only do cats dislike the smell of coffee grounds, but they also hate the texture.
Sprinkle coffee grounds along the perimeter of your flower beds or sprinkle some between the plants, and soon enough your cat pooping problem will be solved! This solution is particularly useful when mixed with cayenne pepper and scattered about the garden.
Lay Down Chicken Wire to Keep Cats Away
Chicken wire is generally a great item to use when trying to keep small animals and other pests away from your garden. However, when you use it to keep cats away, you’ll have to set it up a little differently.
Instead of setting up a physical barrier surrounding the garden, lay down the chicken wire on top of the mulch in your garden. This will take planning, as you will have to do this before planting your flowers. Cats detest the feeling of the wire on their paws and will leave your flower beds right away.
How to Keep Cats from Pooping in My Yard Using Water
If you’ve ever tried to bathe a cat, you’ll know that they detest water. Use this to your advantage to keep cats from pooping in your yard. If you’re outside often, keep a Super Soaker or water sprayer close at hand and give the cats a little spray when you see them approaching.
If you don’t have the time to run outside and spray every stray cat you see, then you can also purchase a motion-sensor sprinkler. These tools sense movement and squirt water to scare the cats away from your garden.
Use Citrus Peels as Cat Deterrent
Citrus is another scent that cats can’t abide, making citrus peels a perfect deterrent. Instead of throwing out your orange peels or squeezed lemon wedges, use them to keep cats away.
Other smelly things you can throw in or around your garden if you can’t stop worrying about cat poop include mothballs, red pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and apple cider vinegar. If you are going to use mothballs, be sure to place them in a container with holes in the lid so that the cats cannot eat them. Mothballs are toxic to cats.
These smells are also great for keeping squirrels out of potted plants.
Set Up a Cat Haven
One of the easiest ways to repel cats from your garden is to distract them with something more appealing. If you have space in your yard, set up an area for the cats far away from your garden. Plant some catnip and put out a litter box or sandbox to entice them.
If you have bird feeders, place them in the area you designate for the cats. The bird feed acts as an extra enticement, and you won’t have to sacrifice your view of the winged creatures.
While all of these natural cat repelling methods are effective, another way to keep cats away from your garden is to keep your yard tidy. Clean up anything lying around that might entice the cats in your direction in the first place. Pick up any food you drop, human or pet, to make sure they can’t find dinner at your home.
It’s also essential to wash away the scent of other cats you know have visited. If you see any urine, wash it away and spray the area with vinegar, as cats are likely to return to the marked spot. However, if you follow our advice on how to keep cats from pooping in flower beds, then you won’t have any problems!