stop cats scratchin up me seedlings?

[windy]

Flamin cats grrrrrrrrr Don't get me wrong, I'm a cat-lover(I share my home with 2...who may well be the culprits!) but sooo wish they wouldnt see me newly dug veg patch as their own personal latrine. I have covered the soil with pointy sticks stuck upright with the idea that if they can't squat they'll have to go elsewhere, but they must be training for the Krypton Factor because they managed to get through those and scratch up some of me newly planted pea seeds And faced with the prospect of goin away for a few days, I covered it with willow twigs and rose clippings, only to come home to find that one of em has managed to get through all that and poo right in the middle of me french bean wigwam
Anyone got any tips on stoppin em while me veg grows?

[ina]

Cover them with netting/wire or plastic mesh until big enough to cover most of the area. I have a few old tree guards of the wire mesh kind which are perfect for that.

[hedgewitch]

I have this problem too and I have all my seedlings covered in net and my raised bed is covered in a long piece of trellis I found by the side of the road. I leave them there until the Plants in pots are big enough that it's not going to tempt the little blighters. The trellis I'll leave there indefinitely seeing as there's plenty of space for the veggies to grow through the gaps.

[ina]

The trellis I'll leave there indefinitely seeing as there's plenty of space for the veggies to grow through the gaps.

Ah yes - don't do what I did last year: left the wire mesh over the onions until they were well and truly grown through - which meant I couldn't do any weeding, either, because trying to remove the mesh meant ripping out all the onions...

You live and learn.

[windy]

Fab stuff guys thanks The pointy sticks has worked pretty well until now....they just cant resist that huge expanse of clean soil. Really wish I hadnt put wigwams in the middle of the bed now though, but it took me longer to dig than anticipated and the plants had to go in in a jumble. I'm off to get some mesh now...right after Ive cleaned up the new pile of poo in the middle of me runner beans

[Anne A]

I have tried the lot to keep my neigbours cats off my veg beds, mirrors, water pistols orange peel, sharp twigs, nowt works so i went the netting route, I advertised on freecycle for ,'broken' tent frames and covered the beds with netting, discovering on the way that the frames would support polythene.... so I now have mini polytunnels, which have the netting underneath and is a matter of minutes to take the polythene off in the summer.
Tip; anchor the ends of the fibreglass poles in tubes that stand a foot proud of the ground to create a better growing area, that the butterflies can't reach the plants through.

[Millymollymandy]

Fence it off! My cat's so big he can't get through the fence wire squares though I've seen a neighbour's skinny siamese in there though thankfully no cats have used the veg patch as a toilet yet - they just poo in the flower beds instead.

[ina]

Just caught mine in the herb bed again... And I don't think I'll be able to keep her out until the mint etc has grown a bit more, to fill the spaces in between.

But - see the positive side of things: her scratching keeps the empty spaces weed free.

[Milims]

Our chickens chase our cats off the seedlings - anyone know how to keep chickens off seedlings?

[windy]

Lol Milims I wont be gettin chickens then
Got me netting...got in a right mess with it. Aint it the way, that the wind sprung up just as Id unravelled it...ended up in a right pickle and wearin a mesh suit Ended up dumpin it back in the shed and the minute I did the flamin wind dropped and the sun came out grrrrrr Have just bunged a load more sticks on any clean soil for now...will incorporate the netting into me next beds though, loving the polytunnel idea too. Mmmmmmm, think I'll get on with diggin the next bed soon...me sweetcorns bustin out the pots and me brains whirrin with ideas. Thanks guys

[shrubadub]

I have a great tip for keeping cats away from your seeds, an old neighbour told me this a few years ago, and it does work a treat. Simply fill a a few plastic bottles with water untill nearly full and place them around your garden. I had a problem with a cat thinking that part of my garden was a litter tray this woked well

[windy]

Well I'll give that a shot too coz the b*ggers been at it again grrrrrrrr Tried again with the netting...the runner beans are making it impossible to do the whole bed The flamin cats managed to squeeze past a million sticks and rose clippings, string, pointy sticks, minefields and snipers and scratch about right under me beans again
Think Ive found the culprit too....caught a black cat of one of the neighbours skankin about up there lookin shifty

[Millymollymandy]

I wonder why the bottle trick is supposed to work - is the the reflection of light that puts them off? I wonder why that works. If you try it Windy can you post if it works or not? My mum has a real problem with all the neighbours cats pooing and scratching in her flower beds and she even bought an electronic scarer thingy which they just ignore!

[hedgewitch]

Spaniards do this all over the place round here - they put the bottles outside their gates, I never thought to use this method for the veg patch! Apparently it is the reflection that they don't like.

[Millymollymandy]

Do you think that would work for sparrows who eat my lettuces, and what about slugs and aphids?