Monorail cat
Maybe I should just electrify the fence

Back in 2004 I was despairing of my cat problem and I bought some of the Scardy Cat Plants that T&M were offering. At the time I think they were quite new, and not widespread, which they now are. They could only be bought as plants, which is still true, and as they’re not frost hardy you have to overwinter cuttings indoors if you want plants for next year. They weren’t entirely successful at the time, and I didn’t bother.

Now I am considering cat defence strategies for next year and I’m wondering whether it would be worth investing again, and using them as one aspect of the defences. I have been looking for a source of seeds, but there doesn’t seem to be one. Has anyone tried saving seeds from their plants? Although sold as Coleus canina apparently they’re really Plectranthus caninus, but I can’t see seeds of those either. However, it is in the mint family and cuttings are supposed to root really easily in water, so they’re not hard to propagate – which does beg the question why the plants are still so expensive to buy!

My research has suggested other scented plants that cats don’t like, including lavender (which we have) and mint (ditto). They certainly don’t like coffee grounds, but I no longer have access to a supply of those, which is a shame. It was quite nice going out into the garden in the morning and it smelling of coffee; it’s preferable to the alternative!

As cats clearly don’t like citrus smells, are there any plants with a strong citrus scent?


Looking at the picture I have chosen for this post, it has just occurred to me why I’m having more cat problems in the garden this year – my elderly neighbour replaced his gargantuan hedge with a rather puny fence last autumn. I gained a couple of feet of garden and a big cat problem :(