Kitchen Garden Forum

A number of people have asked me about damage to plants whereby tall plants are flattened then subsequently grow out at an angle. I have had this problem myself; with both onions and gladioli. I have also seen the problem with bluebells earlier on in the season. I stayed up one night to get to the bottom of the problem and saw the following: When the sun rises in the early hours in late spring/ early summer, the grass and ground remain soaked in dew. Cats choose to lie on the tall plants listed above, bending them over in order to create a dry bed to lie on in the sun. In the case of onions, this will ruin the plants. If the cat does this daily, the crop could be lost. In the case of flowers, the overall look of the cluster is spoilt. I use a combination of citronella rods and catwatch sensor/ deterrents to keep cats away. Sadly, we are over-run with cats, charities are no longer willing to collect them, due to being saturated. They are able to hide behind the "right to roam" aspect of law relating to cats. Unless the cat is injured, charities will not come out to capture a cat - even if known to have no home or person feeding it.

We seem to be pretty lucky round this area regarding cat damage, but there is plenty of room for them to roam.

We have cats and our solution is provide a few cat friendly places - leaving a small area dry with cardboard or a nice straw nest for the cats which might keep them off your precious plants.

My cats would look with horror at a bit of dry earth and stalks....they much prefer the sofa and the chairs.....stretching out so much that we have to scrunch ourselves up in the corners