Re: Raised bed mulch

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
We have three cats and there are several others in the neighborhood who apparently have visiting rights in our yard. After much frustration, I finally fenced my main veggie garden (an area about 12 X 25) to keep the cats out. I made the fence out of scrap chicken wire and put it together so it would be wobbly (cats don't like unstable footing) if they tried to climb it.  In other areas I employ chicken wire laid flat over the bed (cut holes for plants or remove after they are big enough) or old chop sticks, twigs, pieces of wire stuck in the ground to discourage roaming in the beds. Cats also don't like wet spots (or dirty paws) so keeping a bed moist is a deterrent. I find my beds are safest in winter when it rains a lot and when I have a mulch of leaves, twigs and expired plants in most areas. Of course, in Portland, mulch equals slug utopia, which is a whole other battle.
 
 I still have trouble with cats using a pathway made of pea gravel as a litter box, I have covered the most frequently used areas with a board and let plants (weeds and self sowers) grow in the gravel as this keeps it moist and held together. We have two litter boxes inside and clean them daily, in previous years we have also added an outdoor box in summer because cats will use the easiest, driest, cleanest spots. If you (or ideally, their owners) provide those conditions they will use them instead of your bed. 
 
I have heard (and it seems to work) that cats do not like citrus peels, you might try scattering some in your bed. When I did this in my pea gravel, they just used a spot away from the peels. The peels get moldy and nasty after a few days, especially if it is raining, and need replacing. Good luck !
 
Tom
Portland OR,  Zone 8
http://www.teleport.com/~scut/garden.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Tjomsland II <p*@odin.cc.pdx.edu>

Hello Ya'll
I built a 4 by 4 foot cedar box patio garden for my driveway.  I was wondering, since I live in downtown Portland, I have a problem with cats in my flowerbeds at night.  They seem to love Barkdust to "DooDoo" there thing, if you know what I mean.  Forecasting the future, when I fill my garden with dirt, I do believe that although I call this box a garden, the cats are going to think that its a luxurious kitty litter box.  Kinda in the same lines as dogs and the leash laws, there is a law for trespassing cats. 
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