How to keep cats out of your garden in November comes down to protecting two places, the bird feeder and your newly planted spring bulbs. Cover bare soil and aim one ultrasonic deterrent at the places birds feed so that visiting cats move on unharmed. We love cats at TNG and love the robins and blackbirds that visit through the winter just as much.
Chemical sprays and scented repellents promise a quicker fix, although the first heavy rain washes them off the bed and into the ground. Whatever washes off a bed ends up in the soil, where worms and ground-feeding birds such as blackbirds and thrushes find their food. Covered soil and a properly placed deterrent keep working through the winter, which is why this guide argues for them over anything you spray.
We will be honest about the deterrent too, because the best research on ultrasonic units shows a modest effect rather than a miracle. That modest effect is still worth having when the unit sits beside soil that a cat cannot dig.
Why Cats Pick the Same Spots and Why November Makes It Worse
A cat looks for loose, dry soil it can scrape easily and a sheltered corner where it feels safe from being disturbed. Once it has used a spot, its own scent tells it to return to that bed night after night. None of this is spite, which is why the answer lies in changing the spot rather than punishing the visitor.
Busy Feeders and Shorter Days
By the end of November, small birds have barely eight hours of daylight to find the food that carries them through a long, cold night. As a result, feeders grow busier through the month and draw the attention of every cat in the neighbourhood.
Our guide to what to feed garden birds in winter covers the food itself, while this post deals with keeping the diners safe.
Freshly Planted Bulb Beds
Bulb planting leaves wide patches of freshly turned soil just when cats are looking for somewhere dry to dig. A cat scraping a hollow can lift bulbs planted only a week earlier and leave them drying on the surface. The same beds often sit close to the feeder, which puts a crouching cat within a short leap of birds picking up fallen seed.
Protecting the Feeding Station
A cat catches birds by waiting unseen in cover and then closing the last metre or two in a single rush. Feeder placement decides whether that rush succeeds, which makes it the first step to protect garden birds from cats.
Where to Hang the Feeder
Hang feeders a short flight from the nearest dense shrub, close enough for birds to dash to safety but too far for an ambush. Hang them at head height or above, well away from fence tops and low branches a cat could use to jump. A thorny shrub such as berberis or pyracantha makes better cover than a soft evergreen, because birds can perch inside while cats find it uncomfortable.
The Risk of Feeding on the Ground
Robins and dunnocks prefer to feed on the ground, which makes them the easiest birds in the garden for a cat to reach. Scatter ground food on an open patch of lawn with clear views on every side, never beside a hedge base or a border. Put out only what the birds will clear by dusk, because leftover food keeps birds on the ground into the hours when cats hunt most.
How to Keep Cats Out of Your Garden Beds Without Chemicals
A cat that cannot scrape a hollow will not use a bed, which makes covered soil the strongest deterrent you have. Nothing in this section puts a chemical into the soil, which matters because the same beds feed worms and the blackbirds that hunt them.
Cover Bare Soil
Lay Organic Coir Mulch Mats around newly planted shrubs and perennials, where the firm fibre gives a cat nothing loose to dig. Rain still passes through the coir, which breaks down into the soil over time and leaves no plastic sheeting behind. Our piece on the benefits of organic coir mulch mats explains how they also protect soil life through a wet winter.
On open borders, the no-dig method of gardening keeps soil covered all year, which leaves cats far fewer bare patches to choose from.
Chicken Wire Over New Bulbs
Over freshly planted bulbs, lay chicken wire flat on the soil and pin it down at the corners with wire hoops or stones. Cats cannot scrape through the mesh and most dislike the feel of it under their paws. Lift the wire as soon as the first shoots appear in late winter, before they start to grow through the mesh.
The same trick protects bulb pots and Coir Troughs, where a square of wire over the compost stops a cat digging the surface.
Prickly Prunings and Dense Planting
Push holly or rose prunings into any bare gaps, because a cat will not settle to dig among sharp stems. The prunings cost nothing and can come out once the bulbs are through in spring.
In the longer term, dense planting is the kindest cat deterrent of all, because a full border leaves no bare soil to tempt anyone. Ground cover also gives beetles and spiders somewhere to live, which feeds the very birds this whole post sets out to protect. Our guide to creating a wildlife-friendly garden has more planting ideas for the gaps.
Why Scents and Sprays Fall Short
Citrus peel and coffee grounds appear on most lists of cat deterrents in the UK, although rain washes them out within days. Ground pepper is worse, because it can sting the eyes of hedgehogs and blackbirds as readily as those of a cat. Chemical sprays and granules carry the same problem into the soil, which is why we would never put them on a bed.
What the Research Says About Ultrasonic Cat Deterrents
An ultrasonic cat deterrent uses a motion sensor to trigger a high-pitched sound that cats find unpleasant and most people cannot hear. Scientists at the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) tested CATwatch in real gardens and published their findings in 2006.
In one experiment the deterrent reduced how often cats came into gardens, while in a second the drop in visits was not statistically significant. In both experiments, cats spent less time in the gardens that had a deterrent switched on.
That is a modest result, which we would rather admit than promise you a garden that no cat ever enters again. A unit that shortens each visit protects birds at the feeder, because a cat that moves on quickly has less time to lie in wait.
How to Aim an Ultrasonic Cat Deterrent
Our Ultrasonic Cat Deterrent is the CATwatch unit, which our product page says detects movement within 12 m and affects only cats. Aim it across the route cats take to the feeder or bulb bed, such as a gap under the fence. A shrub or water butt blocks the sound, which means anything in front of the unit casts a silent shadow behind it.
Set it low at roughly a cat’s height and check the angle at dusk, when most cats start their evening rounds. Give it a few weeks before you judge the result, because cats learn to avoid a protected area gradually. A unit with flat batteries teaches a cat nothing, which makes the mains adaptor worth adding beside a busy feeder.
Questions About Keeping Cats and Birds Apart
What Is the Kindest Way to Keep Cats Out of Your Garden?
Cover bare soil with mulch mats or chicken wire, because a cat will not use ground it cannot dig. Then add an ultrasonic deterrent aimed at the feeder or bulb bed, which sends the cat elsewhere without harming it.
How Do I Keep Cats Off Flower Beds Full of New Bulbs?
Pin chicken wire flat over the soil straight after planting and lift it once the first shoots show in late winter. Clear any cat mess promptly with gloves on, because the scent of an old visit invites the next one. Prickly prunings pushed between the bulbs add a second layer of protection for very little effort.
Will an Ultrasonic Cat Deterrent Harm the Cat?
No, the sound makes the area unpleasant for a cat without injuring it in any way. The cat crosses another garden instead, leaving the birds at your feeder to eat in peace.
Do Citrus Peel or Coffee Grounds Keep Cats Away?
They may put a cat off for a day or two, although rain washes the scent away long before bulbs are safe. Covered soil needs no reapplying after rain, which makes it the place to start.
Room for Cats and Birds All Winter
Knowing how to keep cats out of your garden this November means giving the cat no reason to linger where birds feed and bulbs sit. Cover the soil before you reach for anything else, because no spray lasts as long as ground a cat cannot dig.
Then add our Ultrasonic Cat Deterrent, aimed across the route to your feeder, to shorten every visit that still gets through. Pair it with Organic Coir Mulch Mats around this month’s new planting to see both bulbs and birds safely through to spring.
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