Last year was a never-ending struggle trying to keep the neighbourhood cats out of my raised garden beds. I tried all kinds of things—cinnamon, skewers, foul-smelling gels— and nothing seemed to work.

This year, I’ve decided to beat the cats to the punch and will be covering the beds with chicken wire right after planting. Apparently cats hate the feel of the wire under their paws. Last weekend, I planted some veggies in the first bed that don’t mind the cold—carrots, radishes and peas. My husband stretched the wire over the bed, leaving a bit of space so it shouldn’t be too hard to weed, at least until things get really tall. I won’t be able to lift up the wire once things get really growing, so that might be a bit annoying.

Cats be gone!

So far, it seems to be working—I’ve not seen any evidence of the cats. Fingers crossed this is the solution! I’m going to do the same thing for the middle bed. Once it warms up, I think I’ll plant beans, beets and maybe squash in this one.

I’ll have to do something different for the third bed. Last fall, I planted garlic here but the cats wrecked two rows of it over the winter. The ones that are left are sprouting scapes already, which I hope is an encouraging sign! I will probably put some cucumbers or other transplants in the rest of this bed and try to wrap the wire around them to keep the cats out (or maybe wrap the wire around the edges of the bed).

At left: the remaining garlic has scapes starting already…

Are cats a menace in your yard too? What are you planting in your garden this year? Have you started already or are you waiting for warmer weather?