How To Keep Cats Out Of Flower Beds

Figuring out how to keep cats out of flower beds can be an annoying task. Cats are curious creatures by nature. A smell, or even a slight movement from a flower, will entice your feline friend to check out your flower bed. Cats are also natural diggers, so they'll destroy a flower bed by digging through the earth around it. You've all heard the term "curiosity killed the cat" right? Well, the term should have been "curiosity killed the cat for frolicking in someone's flower bed." Well, the trick here is to kill the cat's curiosity so you don't have to take all of the feline's nine lives. Here are some ways to keep cats out of your flower beds.

1. Cats can be trained. Believe it or not, you can condition a cat to stay out of your flower bed. If it's your cat and not some stray, try spraying it in the face with a water bottle whenever it decides it wants to play in your flower bed. Your cat will eventually get the message and leave the flower bed alone. The only issue with this method is that there's always a chance that you'll have to go back and discipline your cat every now and then.
2. Plant some catnip. Catnip is like a drug for cats. They go nuts over the stuff. You could plant a small patch of catnip away from your flower bed. This stuff is guaranteed to keep your cat's mind off the flower bed. Seriously, it's like a magnet. Try it out.
3. Other people's animals. If the cats in question have too affectionate a hold over you, and you just want those little pests out of your yard, try these techniques. Fencing in your flower bed with a high yet flimsy fence can help. Cats startle very easily and if they're trying to climb a structure that sways too easily, it'll scare them off it. One little shake and your annoying visitor will move on to someone else's flower bed.
4. Using reflective surfaces. Strategically setting out swinging, clear bottles filled with a little water can help to scare cats off as well. Their eyes are very sensitive to light, just as their ears are sensitive to sound. Strategically setting these water filled bottles out will startle the cats when a flash of light from the sun reflects through the bottles into the cats' eyes.
5. Certain smells work. Cats aren't big fans of citrus smells. You could periodically spray lemon or lime juice in a perimeter around the flower bed. There's also a plant called Coleus Canina. Apparently, it releases a smell that animals can't stand. It is no doubt an adaptation the plant has gone through to keep animals from destroying its flowers. Well, you could plant a few of these around your flower bed to keep the furry flower marauders at bay. Just be careful not to handle those particular plants, because they'll release a concentrated stench that humans can detect as well.
6. The easiest and most obvious answer. Get yourself a dog. Dogs are very territorial. They'll scare off any and everything that enters your yard. Just make sure you get a real dog and not one of those toy Chihuahuas. The cats may kidnap that little thing.