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Are you a pet owner, specifically a cat owner? 

Here’s how to create your very own cat friendly garden…

Now some people might scoff at the idea of a garden designed specifically for cats, but we’ve just created a cat friendly garden for one of our clients, and it’s been a big hit.  We’ve even had feedback from the cats themselves.

If you’re looking for some puurrrrfect ideas that cater for your feline friends here are our recommendations:-

Provide Shelter and Shade

Cats love shelter for several reasons.  They might like somewhere to hide from the local cat bullies.   If your garden is more lawn than plants, it doesn’t give a cat many options if they need to hide from other dominant cats who stray into your garden.  This is particularly so if you don’t have a cat flap and your cat has no-where to go during the day or when you are out.  Shelter can also provide welcome respite from heavy rain for instance or if it’s snowing.

Ideas for shelter include providing a solid structure, e.g. a wooden bench.

Some cats have light coloured fur and thus cannot tolerate direct sunlight because it burns their skin (particularly their ears).  So you need to provide some shade during hot dry spells.

Plants for Shelter and Shade

Evergreen shrubs and hedging will give your cat something to sleep or hide beneath throughout the year (and unavoidably also to stalk prey from!).  There are many shrubs to choose from but a few examples are Abelia, Ceanothus, Escallonia, Photinia and Viburnum tinus. 

Do your cats like to climb?

All cats like to climb and sharpen their claws.  Suitable structures to provide both of these would be a pergola or vertical sleepers. Either of these can also double as the perfect scratching post.  You could even provide a plank to enable your cat to easily make it over the fence.  Cat toys and feathers can be attached to give your cats something to play with. For our client we incorporated a coloured cat ramp to match the fencing! Scratching posts also help cats to stretch and limber up after a long sleep.

Cat friendly planting

Cats love Nepeta cataria (Catnip or Catmint).  The chemical nepetalactone is a sedative that can trigger a euphoric response in cats.  Create a bed of Nepeta and turn it into a cat sanctuary.  Your cat can roll around in it to it’s hearts content.  Nepeta can tolerate sunshine or partial shade and is good for dry areas.  Cut and dry it to make cat toys.

Other Nepeta plants commonly called Catmint are also liked by cats such as, Nepeta x faassenii and Nepeta racemosa

Grass – some cats eat grass to help with their digestion either to cough up fur balls or indigestible bones & fur from prey. However, there is no known evidence that cats need grass or that certain types of grass are better than others. Avena sativa (common oat) is sold as cat grass but it is really the young fresh shoots of many types of grass that are suitable.  So set aside a patch of lawn where the grass is allowed to grow a little longer near the edges – and if it’s in the sunshine even if your cat doesn’t eat it he / she can curl up in it for a catnap.

Plants to Avoid

Believe it or not, some plants are toxic to cats. But cats are fussy eaters and usually know which plants to avoid.

Coleus canina otherwise known as ‘The scaredy cat’ plant – gives off a smell that cats don’t like

Lillies unfortunately are very toxic to cats.  It can be fatal if any part of the plant is injested (because it causes kidney failure). If the cat brushes past the plant the pollen can stick to their fur. If the cat then licks their fur, this could have serious consequences. All lilies should be considered potentially poisonous but the most dangerous are the Tiger Lily (Lilium tigrinum), Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum), Stargazer Lily (Lilium orientalis), Rubrum Lily (Lilium speciosum), and Japanese Show Lily (Lilium lancifolium). So avoid planting Lillies or bringing them into the house.

Toilet Habits

Like we prefer the softness of Aloe Vera loo paper, cats like a nice soft soil to dig.  So if you want to discourage your cat  from pooping in your (or your neighbours) beds, provide a small sand pit not far from your catmint bed.  It will need to be cleaned out regularly but your cat should really appreciate the ‘en suite’ facilities.

We’ve discovered that cat friendly gardens actually encourage cats to spend more time in their own gardens, rather than straying into neighbouring gardens.  So if you like having your cat around, you can use some these strategies to help keep your cat entertained.