How to keep cats out of your vegetable garden

Cat-lovers might describe stray cats as hungry and lonely, but when you're trying to protect your vegetable beds, you might also describe them as tenacious and destructive. Even if you are fond of the felines, you probably don't love the damage they do to your raised garden beds. To keep them out, create a barrier that cats can't cross, or lure them away with something more attractive.

Help Them

1. Stray cats are usually friendly, although they may be wary and hungry at first, advises ASPCA. Often, they are pets that have somehow lost their families. One of the best ways to keep stray cats out of your vegetable beds is to catch them and find them homes. Friendly cats are easy to capture, but it may take several tries -- and some treats -- to get wary cats to trust you. Check the lost pet ads or your local adoption center for families who may be missing their cats. Hopefully, once the cats are back at home and well-fed, they will stop roaming around your vegetable beds. Check local laws and resources before you try to catch any cats.

Block Them

1. Cats are good jumpers, but a wire fence built around your raised beds should keep them from getting to the vegetables. It will also keep other hungry critters out, such as rabbits. Chicken wire is inexpensive, or you can install a chain-link fence with a gate. If your raised bed is relatively small, try covering it with a wire cage that you can lift off when you need to tend to the plants. A single strand of low-voltage electric wire can also be used to keep cats out and allow you to easily access the vegetables at the same time. Place it 4 inches above the edge of the raised bed and attach it to fiberglass rods pushed into the soil at each corner of the bed. The wires should run to each rod and then to an electric fence charger; some of which are battery-powered. Once the cats learn to avoid the beds, simply turn it off or remove the batteries, if you don't want to dismantle the fence. This is only a good idea if you don't have young children, of course.

Annoy Them

1. Cats like soft dirt. They roll in it, play in it and use it as a litter box -- and although cat urine won't damage the soil for future planting, it may injure the plants and ruin your vegetable crop. Mulching your vegetable beds with coarse mulch will annoy cats, as they don't like the texture. Chicken wire, laid on top of the soil and covered with mulch, will also prevent cats from digging but still allow vegetables to grow, but this must be done in advance. Strong scents may also repel cats, especially citrus. Scatter citrus rinds throughout the area, or sprinkle the plants with crushed pepper -- but be sure to wash the vegetables after harvesting them. Cats don't like water, so if its worth the expense to you, consider installing a motion-activated sprinkler that will blast stray cats with water when they venture near your raised vegetable beds.

Distract Them

1. Cats are smart. If presented with a better option, they will usually take it. Distract cats by giving them something else to explore, or by luring them away with something more attractive. A sandy area of the yard, for example, makes the perfect lounging space -- and possibly litter box. A birdhouse or bird feeder far from your raised beds might interest cats more than your vegetables. Or, offer stray cats some catnip (Nepeta cataria). Plant it well away from your vegetables outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9.

Cats love the deep, soft soil in raised garden beds for lazing on or doing their business, which can mean disaster for seedlings or nasty surprises for you when you tend your plants. If cats are ruining your raised beds, you can tempt them away, deter them, use shock tactics or erect barriers, or try a combination of methods. If the cats are feral, you can also call the county animal control department or charity for help. Cat feces can carry parasites and diseases, so always wear gloves when gardening if you share your yard with a cat.

Cat Temptations

1. If the cats that are spoiling your raised beds are your own, or you just love cats, you might want to tempt them away with more enticing alternatives. Cats like raised beds because the soil is usually looser and warmer than the soil in the rest of the garden, or the beds might be the only place where the soil is bare. An area of sand near the raised bed can make a more appealing outdoor litter tray. Dig a hole 2 feet square and 4 inches deep, and fill it with sand used for children's sand pits, which is fine and loose. Scoop the poop and top up the sand regularly to keep it fresh -- cats will soon stop using the area if it becomes smelly and messy. You can also tempt cats out of your raised beds by growing catnip (Nepeta cataria) elsewhere in your garden. Cats love to sniff and roll in this perennial plant. Hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9, catnip grows up to 3 feet tall and wide, and thrives in full sun and dry soil.

Cat Deterrents

1. Cat deterrents for a raised garden bed include materials that are uncomfortable for cats to walk on or dig in, and plants they dislike. Coarse mulches, pine cones and other rough-textured materials deter cats from walking on your raised beds, and they can't dig in chicken wire. To fix pieces of chicken wire to the soil, use wire cut from old wire coathangers folded into a V shape. Sharper materials, such as thorny stems, also deter cats but aren't a good idea because they can injure cats and people. Plants that cats dislike include rue (Ruta graveolens), a perennial herb. Growing 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, rue takes up too much space to grow in raised beds, but you can grow a plant elsewhere in the garden and sprinkle leaves from the plant over your beds. Rue grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 8.

Cat Shock Tactics

1. Homemade and commercial devices can scare cats enough to keep them away from raised beds for the long term. A quick blast from a garden hose or water pistol whenever a cat jumps onto a raised bed can shock it enough to remember and avoid the bed next time. A commercial version of the water shock tactic is a motion detector sprinkler, which sprays water when the cat activates it. Place one of these on your raised bed so it goes off when the cat jumps up. Another commercial device for scaring cats is a sonic deterrent, which emits a sound that cats can hear but people can't. These also go off in response to movement and should be placed on or near the raised beds.

Cat Barriers

1. Low-voltage electric wire around raised beds is an effective way to keep cats out. You can construct a simple electric wire circuit with 22-gauge galvanized utility wire or polywire strands or ribbons and short fiberglass rods. Push the rods into the raised bed soil, and fix two lines of wire at heights of 4 and 9 inches. Farm supply stores and catalogs sell fence chargers, and some are powered by batteries. Remember to turn the system off before tending to your raised bed. After receiving a few shocks, cats usually learn to avoid the area and the system can be turned off.

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