How to Keep Dogs and Cats Out of Your Garden

Chloë NannestadUpdated: Jan. 03, 2023

dog and cat looking at each other outdoors near a garden

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If you're struggling with unwanted gardening buddies, you need to know these gentle tactics to keep dogs and cats out of your garden.

Whether you’re an avid gardener or are just getting into growing your own herbs and vegetables, you know there are a multitude of things to think about when it comes to keeping your garden safe and healthy. Thinking about how to keep cats out of the garden, or how to keep dogs out of the garden can seem like an afterthought. From pests to weeds, maintaining plant life is an ongoing struggle. But if you have pets, or there are free-roaming animals in your neighborhood, it adds a whole new set of complications. Cats and dogs might like to sleep on the cool earth under your leafy greens or dig (or worse!) in the soft soil. Some might even like to chew on your plants. But, apart from channeling your green thumb into indoor plants, how do you keep those cute critters out of your garden? We spoke to gardening and pet experts and identified some gentle but effective solutions to keep cats and dogs out of your garden.

Tips to pet-proof your yard safely

If your pet loves to chew on leaves, make sure not to keep any ivy, philodendron, or chrysanthemum growing in your yard either, as these are toxic to both dogs and cats. Veterinarian Georgina Ushi Phillips from Better With Cats notes that both cats and dogs tend to hate the smell of citrus, so many gardeners recommend adding orange or grapefruit peels to the garden to keep them away. “The problem here is that this will only last for the short term as the smell will quickly weaken out in the garden,” she adds. “You’re also going to need a lot of oranges if you’ve got a garden of any significant size.”

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Some people may take this as their cue to get out the essential oils, but Dr. Phillips says it’s a no-no. “Essential oils are extremely toxic to both dogs and cats and should be avoided. Even diluted in water, I still can’t safely recommend essential oils as a deterrent for pets,” she says. Dr. Sarah-Jane Molier, veterinarian at Miss Cats adds that many people use chopped onion for a similar effect, but that “onions should never be used as a deterrent, as it is poisonous to cats and dogs.” So no onions, no essential oils. Doctor’s orders!

However, Greg Birch, gardening blogger at Gardens of Bacchus, has an alternative and easy way to get that critter-deterring citrus effect in your garden. “You might try mixing up some lemon juice with water in a spray bottle,” he says. “Roughly one tablespoon of lemon to each cup of water. Make sure you’re not using more lemon juice than this in your mixture; too much can kill your plants.”

How to keep cats out of the garden

If your cat or the neighborhood kitties love to hang out in your garden, it’s worth investing in some deterrents to keep them out. Dr. Molier, notes that it’s important to keep cats from using your garden as a litter box because it can be a health hazard. “Cats are carnivores, so their poo can contain parasites and pathogens, which none of us want in our veg patches!” she says. Here are some other ways to keep cats out of your garden.

Stop them from digging:

Lay chicken wire over the soil in between plants; you could cover it with mulch, too.
Plant a cover crop of sedum to make the soil hard to access.
Place bamboo stake barriers in your garden so that animals have a tough time navigating between rows or plants.
Add a layer of twigs, pinecones, or pine tree clippings on top of the surface. Again, this could be covered with mulch as you prefer.
Sprinkle gravel or stones on the soil.

RELATED: Plants That Are Toxic to Cats

Smell deterrents:

Gardener Jeremy Starke told us that vinegar is an extremely effective deterrent to keep cats out of the garden. Try soaking used rags in white vinegar and tie them to stakes around the garden. Re-soak every couple of weeks to maintain the effect.
Dogs and cats hate the smell of citrus, so you could lay orange, lemon, grapefruit or lime peels onto the soil. This works well if you only have a small garden, and a penchant for fresh orange juice (aka a regular supply!)
As Birch outlined above, using a spray bottle with a one tbsp: one cup lemon juice ratio sprayed around the perimeter of your garden can help to deter pets.
Coyote urine. This great (if pungent) tip comes from Elle Meager, CEO of Outdoor Happens, who says that it’s available both online and in hardware stores.
Scatter brewed coffee grounds in your garden. Meager notes that Starbucks often gives old coffee grounds away for free.
Sprinkling black pepper or crushed pepper on the soil around your plants can also be a good solution (if a little pricey). Judd Albring from Lap Dog Life adds that mixing cayenne pepper with water in a spray bottle, and spraying it around your garden works wonders.
Several of our experts also recommended planting strong-smelling herbs to keep cats out of your garden. Rosemary, lavender, lemongrass, and lemon thyme are all known to deter animal visitors.
Another idea many of our experts shared is creating a cat-friendly corner of the yard to keep cats out of the garden. You could even designate an alternate litter box in a sandy corner. Planting catnip far away from your treasured garden will distract kitties from your cauliflower, although Erinn Witz from Seeds and Spades cautions that, “catnip is a member of the mint family, so it can spread rapidly and become invasive.” She advises growing catnip in a shallow, cat-friendly pot to prevent it from taking over.

How to keep dogs out of the garden

Although it probably wouldn’t work to keep cats out of the garden, many of our experts emphasized the importance of training and redirection when it comes to keeping your own dog out of the garden. Dr. Phillips suggested a neat solution for dogs who love to nap in your soil. “Give them a better spot to lay that’s near the garden and give them plenty of praise and treats when they use it,” she says. Equally, if your dog loves to dig in the garden, you can try “adding a small fence and give them somewhere else that’s appropriate to dig.”

Physical deterrents:

Phillips notes that while making the soil less comfortable by adding things like gravel and pine cones will work for some dogs, there are “plenty of dogs that will happily plop down on a prickly pine cone as if nothing is out of the ordinary.” Therefore, physical boundaries such as fences or raised garden beds are more effective for many dogs, especially smaller ones. “Even if fences don’t completely prevent dogs from getting access, the clear visual and physical boundary can make training easier and may help your dog understand where they can and can’t go,” she adds.
While chicken wire under the soil or mulch works well to deter cats, it may also deter dogs from digging. Birch says that, “Dogs will learn pretty quickly that your garden isn’t a good place to dig once they run into the chicken wire.”
Place bamboo stake barriers in your garden so that animals have a tough time navigating between rows or plants.
Several of our experts also recommended installing a motion-activated sprinkler system, if finances and space allows. They are a great humane deterrent for all sorts of animals including dogs and cats, as the noise and surprise of a stream of cold water will put off most critters. Although Birch has an important consideration to note: “It isn’t a great solution if your garden is close to the road,” he explains. “ You don’t want a surprised animal running into the street.”

RELATED: Plants That Are Toxic to Dogs

Smell deterrents:

As noted above, vinegar is an extremely effective deterrent for all animals. Try soaking used rags in white vinegar and tie them to stakes around the garden. Re-soak every couple of weeks to maintain the effect.
Both dogs and cats hate the smell of citrus, so you could lay orange, lemon, grapefruit, or lime peels onto the soil.
As Birch outlined above, using a spray bottle with a one tbsp: one cup lemon juice ratio sprayed around the perimeter of your garden can help to deter pets.
Again, coyote urine.
Scatter brewed coffee grounds in your garden.
Sprinkling black pepper or crushed pepper on the soil around your plants, as noted above for cats. Remember, mixing cayenne pepper with water in a spray bottle, and spraying it around your garden works wonders, too.
Several of our experts also recommended planting strong-smelling herbs to keep dogs out of your garden. Rosemary, lavender, lemongrass, and lemon thyme are all known to deter animal visitors.
Witz suggests planting additional marigolds or calendula (commonly known as pot marigold, although the two plants are not related) around your plants. Dogs usually find the pungent odor of marigolds unpleasant. “As a couple of added bonuses, many harmful insects avoid marigolds, and you also get some extra color!” she adds.

NEXT: How to Revive a Dead Plant

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