Neighbor cat is mistaking tomato bin for a toilet

Q: My neighbor’s cats have discovered my tomato bin to use as their litter box. Our yards are xeriscaped and there is little loose ground around other than my tomato bin. I want to keep the peace with my neighbor but really want (need to) deter the cats. I need something safe to use around the tomatoes. Any ideas? — S.M., Belen

A: You don’t offer the dimension of the bin, so I’m winging this. I’m thinking they are using the area while it is sitting dormant, right?

I’d create some sort of a chicken wire “lid” that you could set on top of the bin and store it during the growing season to reuse once the growing season is done. The cats would be discouraged by the wire impediment to the soil and go elsewhere to use the potty.

Finding the finest mesh wire you can should do the trick to construct some sort of a covering that doesn’t lay directly on the soil but is a detriment nonetheless.

Then my second thought is, are you a coffee drinker? I mean, do you brew ground coffee?

If so, get in the habit of sprinkling the spent coffee grounds on the surface of the tomato bin soil. Cats are supposed to be repelled by that scent. Don’t worry about overstimulating the tomato plants with the grounds, it becomes a soil amendment essentially. It will also offer a bit of nitrogen to the soil, and since tomatoes use quite a bit of nitrogen, I think it’d be a win-win solution.

I’ve read that cats don’t like the scent of citrus (orange, lime and lemon) peels either. It’s suggested that you put the peels — more is better — on the soil, remembering to offer fresh ones often. I’m not too keen on this idea, as I am not convinced that ants and the like wouldn’t enjoy the peels, and then you’d be opening yourself up to a different problem.

I have this funky book that offers suggestions that remind me of folklore, but it suggests mixing two cups of rubbing alcohol with a teaspoon of lemongrass oil together and spraying the perimeter with that mix. The citrus scent of the lemongrass oil would make almost any cat wrinkle their nose for sure.

Consider planting an old-timey herb called rue, sometimes called “Herb of Grace,” in the area if you have the space to share with the tomatoes. The rue can grow to 2½ feet tall and wide easily, so if space is a concern, maybe container planting encircling the tomato bin could be the ticket. I know cats don’t like the scent of it.

My book suggests sprinkling dried rue leaves in the area to use as a cat deterrent too. I’m not sure where to get dried rue leaves, but if you were to grow it, since it is classified as a perennial, you’d be able to harvest your own leaves to dry.

I really think that the wire bin lid would be the most effective, but again, I’m not sure how big an area you need to protect.

Remember that it’s best to tidy up the scat daily and offer good waterings to keep the cat scent as diluted as possible. If the problem continues, consider a motion detector that could turn on a sprinkler quickly.

During the winter months, that’d be most difficult to employ, but if they are pesky during the growing season, it could help for sure. One more suggestion, could you, without any animosity, especially since you define them as neighbors, suggest the neighbor create a loose soil area of their own to please the cats?

I hope you can find a solution that works in your world to deter the cats while you are out there Diggin’ In!

Good luck!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Diggin’ In, Albuquerque Journal, 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.