Keeping pets from destroying the garden that you so carefully tend can sometimes seem an uphill battle. Here are 10 easy, effective tips on pet-proofing your garden:
- Create clear paths in your beds with surfaces that are easy for pets to walk on; if you delineate a clear path, that will help direct animals through your garden.
- Create deterrents at the edge of beds with materials such as prickly pine straw or gravel.
- To discourage digging, scatter river rock or small pebbles over problem areas.
- Protect just-planted bulbs from being dug up by laying a piece of chicken wire over the bulb(s) and then covering with dirt or mulch.
- Use holly branches and thorny rose prunings as natural blockades to areas of your garden.
- Position several small mesh bags of mothballs among your garden plants to help keep pets at a distance.
- Sprinkle black pepper or cayenne pepper in areas you want to be animal-free.
- Plant common rue (Ruta graveolens) anywhere dogs are a problem. One rue next to each tomato plant will deter Rover from eating the harvest.
- If cats are a particular problem, give them what they want. Try devoting a sunny corner of the flower bed to feline favorites like mugwort, catmint, catnip and kiwi. Place cuttings of the plants where the cat likes to play.
- As a last resort, you can always enclose your garden or certain sections of it with fencing made of wire, wood, bamboo or stone. Border the fence with colorful flowers or ornamental grasses for a decorative effect.
