Allotments 4 All

General => News => Topic started by: tas on July 06, 2012, 22:53:01

Title: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: tas on July 06, 2012, 22:53:01
cats from all the street around are using my allotment patch as there poo patch
and are digging and leaving me not so nice things ???

i have tryed putting down chili powder. hanging up a mettle toy.
even grained green chili and garlic and added a tea spoon of oil and washing up liquid  still no long solution

pls every one send me some suggestions!!!!!!
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: queenbee on July 06, 2012, 23:16:00
I had the same problem but solved it by snapping green pea sticks into thirds, I placed these around my plants and the cats were put off. I know this is a slow and arduous task but it definitely works and the cut pea stick last for at least 3 to 4 years. I actually wrote to Geoff Hamilton to re comend my cure for cat problems and had a lovely reply from him saying he would try this in his own garden as he also had a problem with cats.
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: Gordonmull on July 07, 2012, 02:08:42
Same problem. I use fleece until the plants are big enough to provide enough ground cover to put the cats off.

Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: Jeannine on July 07, 2012, 04:09:19
I heard just today that cloths soaked in ammomia do the trick??
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: manicscousers on July 07, 2012, 09:00:16
We use chicken wire cloches until the plants are big enough to see to themselves  :)
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: lewic on July 07, 2012, 10:12:01
Something has been digging in my freshly planted carrot bed - either foxes or cats. Judging by the vigour with which the holes were obviously dug, I don't think anything other than wire mesh is going to stop them! I love cats and actively encourage them with catnip and titbits, but as soon as the rain stops I am going to have to block up their loo. Foxes are much more of a problem IMO, and I suspect cats may be getting the blame unfairly in some cases!
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: elvis2003 on July 07, 2012, 10:35:32
had the same problem in one of the schools I teach at,was really vile! (and I am a cat lover) I netted each bed off in the end,working a treat
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: artichoke on July 07, 2012, 11:22:38
Either foxes or badgers or ??? have dug in a large bed I have covered in composted straw. They have destroyed all squash plants and pulled up onions and potatoes.

My solution is gradually turning that area into fruit bushes, as nothing more delicate seems to survive. It's a shame the straw seems to attract digging creatures - I haven't had that problem anywhere else with normal soil surface.
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: queenbee on July 07, 2012, 20:36:10
We had a similar problem a few years ago. We had wondered why all the fat balls on the bird feeder were going so fast, we found them a few months later all buried in the veg plot. It was squirrels that were doing the digging we also turned up loads of little piles of peanuts. We invested in squirrel proof feeders. 
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: tas on July 07, 2012, 21:21:08
hi every one thanks for Ur help and advice and telling me of Ur similar problems at least i know am not alone ;D

i have read somewere on the net that moth balls do the trick what do u fellow problem solvers think :-\
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: chriscross1966 on July 10, 2012, 21:50:14
I thought I had foxes digging in my potato bed for worms, but then my neighbour told me he had disturbed a flock of blackbirds doing it... then hopped off and hid in his potato patch and flew off in a squawking panic when he flushed them form there....
Title: Re: cats digging up all my plants
Post by: green lily on July 11, 2012, 20:56:53
I have 3 holly bushes in my garden as well as rose and other thorny prunings
which i scatter liberally around newly dug areas. I also have a solar mole scarer which emits periodic beeps I leave that around to spook the cats..It seems to work. cats really dont like holly and the leaves last quite a long time in the soil. So do gooseberry prunings but watch your own fingers.. ;)