Eglu Cube, auto door, walk in run for sale South West London

[Chicken deficient]

I've just been out to put the chickens to bed and was a minute too late to stop a cat from digging up a half metre square area of seedlings and ****ing in the middle of it. Again.

 

I give up! After so much effort and digging and weeding and growing and planting, it hardly seems worth bothering any more.

 

Our allotment is quite a big area and we went to considerable expense fencing it off to stop the neighbours dog from messing all over it, but now these two cats just jump in and use it as a giant litter box. I don't want to use netting again, having found a blackbird stuck in it with a broken leg last time, so I don't know what else to do?

[Eggasperated]

I'm beginning to think gardening is more like building a fortress as we seem to get assaulted by every creature going.

 

To stop cats digging up seedlings I use chicken wire laid on the rows when I sow, I then remove it when the seedlings have reached a decent size. I have never had any trouble with anything caught in this but I don't like using netting on the ground as I have found birds and frogs and toads caught in this.

[Couperwife]

We use twigs and small sticks round the edge of our beds. If you stick them in the ground so they are about 8 inches high round the perimeter the cats seem to find it too much of an inconvenience.

Or...if you are quick enough and there! A squirt with a water pistol.

 

Dont give up (((hugs)))

 

Cathy

X

[Chicken deficient]

I'm collecting twigs and also contemplating putting up bunting a foot or so above the ground, to see if that discourages things.

I was on hand with a watering can last time I caught a cat tending to its ablutions in the middle of a row of carrot seedlings. It got a thorough soaking, but was totally unperturbed, rubbed itself against my leg and went 'mew'.

 

Meanwhile, a mole has now travelled under all the rows of seedlings, leaving 4 big mole hills.

 

I'm going to try and remain a bit calmer and re-do the damaged bits and count them as a 'successive sowing throughout the season' thing.

 

Sniff.

[clucker1]

Try "Silent Roar".[urlhttp://www.primrose.co.uk/-p-791.html?adtype=pla&kwd=&gclid=CKy_9cWyvrcCFWLHtAoduTMABQ][/url]

This I have found to get rid of foxes and cats, our pet rabbit thought something was up when it went out too. I bought mine from a local garden centre. Link, just fyi, if I have done it right.

[Lesley]

With 6 farm cats I sometimes think we grow cat poop - I really don't like cats

 

I have one area where the cats can gain access but as soon as I can afford more Omlet chicken netting I'll section that area in the same way as the other plots. I have one large area surrounded by the netting with gates in it at strategic points - it is wobbly and the cats can't scale it. I have an even larger area where we've used wooden posts (6' out of the ground) and stapled the netting around it. I thought the cats would scale the posts but they haven't!

 

The netting is expensive but it has been in place for 7 years now and is worth every penny.

[Chicken deficient]

We seem to have solved the pooing in the garden bit - by going to the garden centre and getting a load of bedding plants. Things will need to be thinned out as they grow to fill their spaces, which is a shame, but at least I'm not cleaning up after the next door cat several times a day.

 

As for the allotment, the cat had been cat-leaping over Omlet netting to get in there. However, the cat in question had a bit of a tete-a-tete with one of my Mini Schnauzers at the weekend and I haven't been troubled by it since, touch wood.

 

The dogs were out with us for the afternoon, free ranging inside the Omlet netting with the chickens. Cat appeared, obviously wanting to answer a call of nature. Cat saw Poppy, (very solid, very muscly Mini), and did the typical cat nonchalance thing of sitting, sunning itself and sort of half dog watching, with a 'oh, I hadn't really noticed you there dog' demeanour. Poppy stood rigid and motionless, staring at cat for a good 20 minutes. Cat upped its game and moved closer, as in a metre away from Poppy, still the other side of the netting. Poppy waited another 10 minutes, until cat was getting really quite relaxed. Cat didn't realise that Poppy can do a Platform 9 3/4 job on the netting and only just managed to escape in time when 8kg of very cross Schnauzer suddenly appeared at the other end of its whiskers.

[Lesley]

- can I borrow your dog?

[Luvachicken]

As long as it doesn't rain, you can use used tea bags with Olbas oil on or WD40, to keep cats away, and even curry powder.

Be careful with your dogs though because Daisy once ate the tea bags I'd put out

[Chicken deficient]

Garden cat is back - it dug up a new plant and then pooed in the hole. Me and little 'un went twig collecting and now the garden is a veritable jungle of bramble twigs. Looks a bit odd, but hopefully worth it - thanks Couperwife.

I haven't tried the lion dung yet - my dogs eat every other variety of poo going, so I thought it may end up going the same way .

 

I had sprinkled cayenne pepper everywhere and that didn't stop it, but I'll try the teabag thing next if needs be. Blooming cats!