Pretty £3.50 plant will stop cats pooping in your garden for good as they 'hate' smell – The Mirror
No one likes local cats using their gardens as litter trays, even if they love having ha cuddle with them. But luckily, there’s one pretty plant that can help deter them
Cat-lover or not, when felines enter your garden and end up using your flower beds as a toilet, it's not on.
To you, your garden might be a beautiful oasis of colourful flowers – a sanctuary to escape the stresses of everyday life. But to a cat, it's unfortunately no more than an easily-accessible toilet – albeit a pretty one.
But luckily, there are things you can do to deter felines from your outdoor haven, as there are certain scents they just don't like. We're not talking about cruel booby-traps that might harm them, but actually something that can enhance your garden's appearance.
All you have to do is buy a £3.50 plant, which looks great in your garden – and as a bonus, cats 'hate it'. One person took to Facebook to ask for advice to prevent local cats from using her garden "as a litter tray".
The woman, who posted to the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips group, where fans of cleaning sensation Sophie Hinchliffe share their best tips and tricks, added: "I've tried some citronella-style granulates, they did nothing. They keep coming into my yard and I'm sick of cleaning up the poo! Any ideas on how to get them to stay out?"
Luckily, fellow gardeners were on hand with a great tip, with many of them agreeing that curry plants had worked wonders for them. One person wrote: Curry plants! I had a problem with cats but since I have put curry plants around my garden, they no longer come in my garden."
Another simply added: "Plant a curry plant, cats hate it," and a third agreed, writing: "Cats don't like curry plants."
Helichrysum italicum, more commonly referred to as a curry plant, is known for its strong scented leaves. The pretty plant is a small, bushy evergreen sub-shrub with linear, silvery-grey leaves – which actually smell similar to curry. They also have beautiful yellow flowers in the summer, so are a great addition to any garden.
You can buy a 9cm potted curry plant for £3.50 from Hetty's Herbs and Plants, or a 1l one for £5. Waitrose is also selling a 9cm pot for £5.99, or you can get three for £11.98.
According to Sloane & Sons, curry plants are one of the "best to deter cats". On their website, they state: "Like the majority of plants that cats hate, curry herb plant releases a horrible odour when brushed against, which attacks their sense of smell. However, this spicy plant also has a coarse texture that cats will loathe. Since the curry herb plant is technically a weed, you should use it sparingly in your garden."
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