A gardening enthusiast has shared a simple, low-cost method to stop cats from fouling in gardens: placing an old transparent plastic bottle filled with water on the ground. Roger Crookes, who posts straightforward gardening advice on YouTube, says he has not seen a cat in his garden for five to six weeks since trying the trick.
Cats are legally allowed to roam freely and enter other people's gardens or allotments. While they can sometimes help gardeners by tackling pests like large insects or rodents, many gardeners want to protect their flowers and plants from feline intruders.
Failed Deterrents and the Bottle Solution
Before discovering the bottle method, Crookes tried several approaches to keep cats away from his treasured plants. He removed droppings, replaced the scent with a pungent plant called the scaredy cat plant (Coleus caninus), and placed small prickly twigs on the soil. The scaredy-cat plant, a herb in the mint family with green foliage and blue-purple flower spikes, is reputed to repel cats by emitting a disagreeable scent. Cats also prefer soft, loose soil and avoid prickly surfaces, so thorny twigs can act as a deterrent.
Crookes noted that this three-pronged approach worked for a while before losing effectiveness. He repeated the process once more, but "unfortunately, they came back." Then he recalled a trick involving a water-filled bottle placed on the ground near areas cats use as toilets.
He said: "So I just put the bottle of water down; that was five weeks ago, maybe six weeks ago. Haven't seen a cat since. Don't know why it worked or how it works, but it does seem to work."
Other Natural Cat Deterrents
One commenter claimed the bottle technique "keeps the cats away" because felines are "frightened by the mirror effect" the water-filled bottle produces. Other methods include ultrasonic repellents, which detect an animal's presence and emit a high-frequency sound only animals can hear, along with a flashing light, startling the cat and encouraging it to move elsewhere.
Cats are also reportedly repelled by the strong aroma of citrus peel, such as lemon, orange, and grapefruit. Scattering peelings around raised beds and planted areas can deter cats, though the peel breaks down quickly and needs frequent replacement to remain effective. Uneven ground and plastic fencing are other surfaces cats tend to avoid; placing plastic fencing or chicken wire around garden beds creates an unpleasant surface, as cats dislike the sensation of mesh under their paws. They also avoid gravel and areas covered in stones and pebbles.
