Allotments 4 All

If it's not them using my garden as a toilet then it's wrecking my few precious veg plants!

Today two cats decided to have a fight in my flowerbed right where my dwarf french beans are growing. As I'm terribly limited on space I only have 5 plants which are doing rather well and yesterday I picked my first handful of beans from them. Very tasty and my two children devoured them straight from the bush. But after the two cats had finished their fight (prematurely as I sprayed them with the hose pipe) they had completely destroyed 4 of the 5 plants. Absolutely flat to the ground and most of the leaves shredded to bits. None of the beans could be salvaged as they were ripped to shreds. So now I'm not very happy with cats  >:(

I don't think it's too late to sow new, maybe in the windowsill for quick germination?
What a total bummer!

I know cats do cause damage to gardens and allotments but I am a cat lover so am very biased in their favour!  Many of my lottie neighbours are very against the cats which roam around freely on our plots doing what comes natural I suppose but today the big black and white regular almost got a standing ovation as he literally swaggered along the path and out of the gate with a very big RAT dangling from his mouth.  Don't know what reception he would get when he proudly presented it to his owners who live nearby! :o

Ooohh, Wicker, don't let Trailrat hear you say that!  ;)
I think I might take Ina's advice and try sowing some more seeds, my conservatory gets hot so the heat may help them catch up a bit. Was reading the thread on french beans in the edible section and seems like some others are sowing now, hope we get an extended summer!

Oh Jesseveve, don't get me started.  I didn't post my Saturday experience as I fear I have upset cat lovers in the past, but I loath them with a passion!  Sorry everyone, I really am.  Went out on Saturday with kids and Ava to the allotment to do some picking.  On the top of my compost heap lid were 8 module seed trays with a selection of things germinating happily, including lots of lovely pulsatilla that Eric has sent me.  Came home to watch our neighbours mog leap from the fence, onto the seed trays, knocking the one full of the pulsatillas onto the ground.  I was almost crying and I was furious!!  I very carefully managed to lift most of the modules up and plop them back into their cells, but there were several casualties.  I am generally not precious about plants, I have 2.5 kids and know full well the damage they and their toys can do to plants, but they are my kids in my garden, not someone elses kids in my garden!  GGGRRRR.  Rant over now, and aplogies again  Sow some more, there is still time, right up until the end of August I believe.

Can I suggest putting branches with thorns and cuttings of thorny shrubs,berberis,brambles,roses etc among your fragile plants,over trays etc,as puss hates to get a thorn underpaw and if there are enough it may deter most cats. :-\  Toots

Thanks for the suggestion Toots. I have used holly branches over seed beds and that worked well together with a little sprinkle of cat repellent. The incident with my beans was just unfortunate, don't think holly would have made the slightest difference when they were pulling each others fur out! But nonetheless very very annoying. Anyway, shall try again. Bought some runner beans today and have sown them into pots, hopefull to get something before winter approaches as the seed packet says sow April to July.

EJ sorry to hear about your seed trays, I know the feeling!

Don't mind cats, actually prefer them to dogs. Just as long as they stay away from my babies. My mice are breeding at the moment and are very fragile. Expecting a litter soon. Can't wait for the little pink bald blind critters to show up, they are so adorable.

TrailRat

Quote from: TrailRat on July 26, 2004, 17:29:08
Don't mind cats, actually prefer them to dogs. Just as long as they stay away from my babies. My mice are breeding at the moment and are very fragile. Expecting a litter soon. Can't wait for the little pink bald blind critters to show up, they are so adorable.

TrailRat

Hi TR,just been messaging my son who has 5 ratties.One is totally feral,keeps doing the big escape though the others are very tame and he has had rats for many years.He fears it may have been badly treated before he got it,as it is terrified of him right from the start.

He is tidying his flat,as he also has a family ,of house-mice,which feed off what the ratties scatter.We discussed this and he aims to get a humane trap to catch them all and we agreed a release in the local park all together would be the best option!

Good luck with your litter! Hope you get lots of the wee pink wrigglers! ;)

Hi Jesseveve! I do sympathise although I too am a cat lover. Try putting citrus peel near your plants (any citrus fruit will do) as cats hate it. It will need replacing regularly though.

Another thing that I have heard of, but not tried (as I have a cat!) is a plant called Coleus Canina. Apparently cats, dogs and foxes can't stand the smell!!! It needs well drained soil in the sun and frost protection.

Other than that - have you thought about installing an electric fence? And yes, I really am a cat lover!!!

No Plocket! An electric fence!  :o I couldn't do that. Although I am upset with the cats I wouldn't like to scarify them like that. Don't think my children would appreciate it much either. I have put some more holly cuttings down this afternoon, to keep the cats off and to keep my 3 year old off. I also sprinkled some more cat repellent over the vulnerable areas. But, whilst doing this I did have a thought which maybe someone can answer. Does the cat repellent keep wildlife like hedgehogs away as well? I have so many slugs and snails I wouldn't want to chase the hedgehogs away as they are my only ally in the fight against slimy things. I'm using the "Growing Success" brand of repellent.

There's that stuff called Renardine too - don't get it on yourself or you'll sleep alone for weeks.  Then there's lion poo - from the zoo.

I tired the lion poo, freeze dried and sterilised. It worked really well but too expensive for me to keep using. I didn't get it from the zoo though, wonder if it's cheaper from them. When we had a deer in our garden once it's scent seemed to keep the cats well away for a few weeks but eventually wore off.