Mulch for raised beds

I have two cats which like to use of my little raised beds as litter trays. I am wondering what kind of mulch would stop them as it is not too long before there will be vegetables growing in them. I would like it to look nice, if possible, because they are prominent in my garden. I have a spare bag of light colored stones which would do the trick as they would be just about too heavy for the cats to dig through, but I realize this would be an unusual choice for a veggie bed and impractical in some ways. What do you think?

There is already farmyard manure worked in. I saw Monty Don (on a programme about French gardens) visit a wonderful organic garden in the South of Franch where they grew incredible tomatoes in very stony ground. The old man said the white stones were a wonderful mulch as they held all the warmth and reflected the light. But perhaps this would only be a benefit in a hotter climate like that one?

 

Be hard to dig any future manure into the plot though?

Why not put some sort of metal frame over the top. The plants can still grow through the holes but it will stop the cats being able to dig into the soil

 

i was thinking something a bit stronger than this...

 

I don't think mulch will deter the cats much.

Like Craig1987, I am more inclined to go for a netting/mesh barrier, or use psychology in order to modify cat behaviour.

Cats are very clean animals and generally do not eat their meals near their designated toilet area, therefore, feed your cats on or next to the raised beds and then gradually move the feeding location further away to see what happens.

Taking ownership by scent marking the raised beds may also work - yes, do a jimmy on the corners of the beds. No need for a dam bursting torrent, just a few drops will do.

In addition, you can also plant catnip to draw them away from the beds.

 

I've put mesh barriers over plants planted in bare soil before and had cats pooing through the mesh. You need to cover the soil with something like a Mypex barrier, plant through it, and you will have no further problems.

 

I have used mesh barriers on mine. I used this plastic coated stuff...



I anchored it down so that is was approximately 2inches above the surface of the soil. This meant the cats wouldn't go underneath it but wouldn't step on it either so discouraging them from doing their business on top of the mesh. It worked very well with no further problems.

 

Good ideas, thanks. I will look around for some sort of mesh and have it slightly raised, I think. Good idea to feed the cats there too. Not sure about the jimmy, though, as neighbors from all sides can see in and as I'm a woman it would be quite conspicuous!

 

I've scattered cheap coffee grounds to keep cats away, which worked for me. I only had to apply coffee grounds every other week for a few months altogether. However, a poster in another forum said she had a cat who loved the smell of coffee and ate coffee beans.


Using Tapatalk.

 

Knowing my cat he would probably eat them. He has eaten all sorts of strange things - an olive, a tomato, and he once stole an entire cucumber from the work top. He managed to drag it quite far along the floor!

 

I had the same experience as scrungee, cats craping through the mesh. I got around it by covering the raised beds with landscaping material and planting through it
regards alex

 

Apart from the difficulty of direct-sowing veggies in a textile-covered plot, the areas I've covered here with weed-suppressing fabric seem to attract my more fastidious moggies! They don't bother trying to dig into soggy, disgusting clay....I suppose it's no worse than having to clear up after dogs and I can see their dilemma!

 

Thanks for your advice everyone. I have gone for some weed suppressing fabric and the cats have stayed clear so far.