Cats ‘won’t go near’ gardens or dig up plants if you scatter 19p item

You can get your garden looking as pristine as you like by heeding the advice of horticulturalists and experts. But nothing can prevent those pesky yet adorable creatures from wandering in and treating your garden as their own personal playground.

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as taking pride in the garden you’ve carefully cultivated, only for cats to come along and uproot your plants. Fortunately, several gardening experts have shared a humane deterrent that will discourage them from visiting, but “won’t harm them at all”.

Cats are protected under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, meaning causing any injury to them could result in a hefty fine or even a custodial sentence.

Exasperated by her neighbour’s cats wreaking havoc on the flower beds in her garden, one woman turned to the Gardening UK Facebook group seeking advice on how to tackle the problem.

She wrote: “What do people do/use to stop cats digging up flower beds and pooping in their garden?

“I’ve just recently done a new flower bed out the front of my house, and every night a cat has come and dug some of it up and used it as a toilet.”

The most widely recommended solution was to use citrus fruit peel, as cats “don’t like the smell” and it won’t “harm or bother them at all.”

Someone wrote: “Try citrus fruits. Use orange peel as cats don’t like the smell of them.”

Another suggested: “Orange peels have worked for me in the past. Put them down daily. It broke the cat’s habit and it stopped coming for its daily poo quite quickly.”

A keen gardener and cat-lover said: “I use oranges and orange peels, they are fantastic! I’m a cat owner and we’ve had to do that on occasions to stop the cat going for the corner of the wall etc.

“They simply won’t go near it as they don’t like the smell. Not that any of these suggestions are cruel, but they’ll take one sniff at orange peels and walk off. Won’t harm them or bother them at all.”

A five-pack of oranges can be purchased from local supermarkets for approximately £1, equating to roughly 20p per orange.