Cats and bananas
 

Within the next couple of weeks I have to bring in my banana plants due to colder wetter weather coming and trying to find a way to keep my cats out of the dirt. They like to jump in the pots and scratch until all the dirt goes flying everywhere and of course probably go potty in there too. Anyone have cats that love to dig in the pots and what has worked to keep them out?
Sib

Re: Cats and bananas
 

Re: Cats and bananas
 

Trash bag or gunny sack with a draw string? piece of thin plastic with a cutout to fit the trunk? Have your neighbor's dog pee on it? Got to be a 100 solutions.

Re: Cats and bananas
 

Plant accent cactus

Re: Cats and bananas
 

I use orange peels in all my plants, works for my spoiled cat children! I eat a lot of citrus, so they are refreshed often. My daughter in Law uses plastic forks. Stick handle side down into the soil until just the tines are sticking up. If you use clear ones they aren't too visible. Hubby calls these punji sticks! :ha: (Punji sticks would be placed in areas likely to be passed through by enemy troops.)

~JaNan

Re: Cats and bananas
 

For years I've used the lightweight red lava rock, about 2 inches thick. It is sharp enough they don't like to walk on it, too thick a layer for them to dig in, and it is also very decorative.

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I used to use masking tape on top of the pots to create a mesh.

Re: Cats and bananas
 

I have used pine cones successfully! The cinnamon scented ones are easy and economical to find this time of year. Good luck!:2738:

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I used sharpened pencils poking up, a whole potful of them. Worked well. But I like the plastic fork idea above, as well as the orange peels. Thanks.

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I'll be bringing a few inside this year and I'm liking the cinnamon pine cones. I'll look for some of the small cones and treat them with cinnamon oil. I doubt the spiders will hang out after that. If they do the cat will eat them!

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I make a "collar" out of cardboard that goes around the stem of the banana and covers the pot. This stops our cat from using them as a lavatory in the winter !

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get some of the plastic mesh at the fabric store like they use for wedding veils and fasten that around the pot with a string or rubber bands. You can take it off to water it and check the soil condition.

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The problem here is that the kittens we acquired a few weeks ago live outside. Since all of our plants are outside they get to piock out which one they are going to attack next. Garden hose helps a lot if you are there when they get into the plants. Sometimes a pain but necessary to help keep the "SHADOW" away.

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I have a border collie, she won't allow cats in the same street let alone a flower pot!!
Really handy seeing most of my neighbours own cats:ha:

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oh! if they're outdoor cats, we use raspberry bush or rose bush prunings in the top of the pots. Just cut them into 6-8" pieces and lay them in there thick on top of the soil.They only dig in there once and decide that is a pretty bad place to dig. It works on dogs too!
You know if you put a litter box out somewhere like in a shed or someplace the cats can get to, they will usually use it instead of your pots? my outdoor cat has a litter box on the covered back porch he uses if the ground is frozen or it's rained a lot. You don't have to clean it that often.

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My outdoor cat earns his keep and so far hasn't been a problem. It is my indoor cat that is worrying me. He is a bit psychotic I think. If he goes outside he will hold his eliminations until he comes back inside to his litter box. He only makes exceptions when we have brought a potted plant inside. Go Figure!