its pretty much impossible to deter them so place your plants strategically:
kitchen window ledge
putting a shelf in a sunny area
plant stands
the plants I leave out are succulents (jade, aloe) they leave them alone
keeping big plants with grass-like allure in my room with the door closed

Hang them from ceiling hooks in sun-filled spaces. In the 1970s, everyone on the planet had a macrame plant hanger -- macrame looks like something woven, but it's made by knotting so you don't have to use needles or hooks or whatno. Not sure why it's not back in vogue given all things retro are hip agian. (maybe this post will resurrect them!)

http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_430xN.72046373.jpg

Or just grow catnip. 50% of cats like it, so there's a chance your cat will ignore it. Of the 50% who do nibble the herb, half of those get a little manic and the other half get sleepy.

PS just to make my reply more useful:

http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/how-to-macrame-a-plant-hanger/

My cat likes to jump into my big potted plants to eat them. After putting aluminum foil in the pots he has finally stopped. Also the motion activated air spray- Sscat from Amazon works well except any motion will set it off, scaring people as well as cats.

any citrus fruit will help, lemon peels or orange peels, cats hate it and its compost so it will eventually help your plants. also, tin foil covering the dirt. Cats don't like to step on it

Ive tried EVERYTHING and the only thing on the planet my cats hate is Sriracha hot sauce! Im not sure what it does to most plants but Ive used it (just a little bit diluted with water) on my fiddle leaf fig and so far its worked wonders.. the plant is fine and the cats stay away....

I heard of an electricized mat one can buy to make cats avoid certain spots. I think I would need a lot of these "scat mats" though.

All of the above - aluminum foil, bitter/hotsauce spray, citrus.

But please, plant her some catnip - if she's interested in plants and yours don't appeal, it's a good bet she'll enjoy what IS hers. And it will only cost you a little, and I bet she'll love it.

Hanging plants from the ceiling didn't work for me. My kitties climbed up to a high spot, then made the long leap across the room to get at the greenery. They made contact, and spilled the contents of the pots all over the floor. Bitter Apple didn't work; tabasco didn't work; aluminum foil covering the surface where the plants sat didn't work. Mine were totally focussed on getting those plants.

I'm thinking a greenhouse window with a clear barrier door might be the solution. That or artificial plants.

Cat grass. It's not catnip and if I place a pot of it right next to my other plants, she goes for it instead. :)

i've just resigned myself picking non-toxic plants, and having slightly "perforated" leaves. I occasionally trim back the leaves if they get too ragged, but other than that, I just let it be.

After reading similar threads on other sites about how to deter cats from hopping in the planters or messing with the soil I recently tried toothpicks. Lots of toothpicks sticking upright in the soil. None of our kitties have been hurt and so far it seems to be working. I tried cut drinking straws first and that didn't work they batted them out. If the toothpick magic goes away I'm going to make custom cut screens to cover the planters.

my cats pee in, pillage and shred my plants.

i tucked in and pinned down landscape fabric in the planters, which has stopped the digging and squatting. sprinkle some peppermint oil on the fabric and the cats completely stay away - and the room smells obscenely fresh.

as for the leaves - i'm still working on that

I keep pots of cat grass in a couple of places around the house and patio for my cats. That way they always have something to nibble and they stay away from the more ornamental plants. To be safe I only keep plants in the house that are not poisonous to cats when they do stray from the grass.

@appleaday, your cats' tenacity is hilarious!

I had a problem with stray cats using my outdoor herb garden as a litter box. I found a product at one of the big home centers that is made of pepper oil that you spray around and on the plant. Supposedly it's supposed to keep them away. It really didn't work that well as a repellent (probably because of constant watering) but I bet it would keep them from eating the plant. If someone does try this spray, DO NOT spray it in your home. Take the plant outside first and make sure to wear goggles and hold your breath or you will practically mace yourself.

Grow some cat grass, and put it somewhere that's easy for her to find--she'll love it and leave the other stuff alone.

When I was growing seedlings this year, I roped off the area around the plants with sticky tape. It only took the both cats just once to figure out that they didn't want to go anywhere near that tape.

Cayenne pepper (and spray) didn't work for my cats.

Hanging plants are also wonderful.

Terrariums.

That said, my cats aren't really that persistent. All it takes is a couple of NOs before they give up. They apparently have bigger fish to fry.

I am a huge cat lover but I don't mind giving my cats a spray with the water bottle. They're just cats, and it's just water. Man up! If you don't want your cats to misbehave then you have to learn how to discipline them. As for tips for indoor planting and deterring their bad behavior when you're not around, putting pine cones in a big planter has worked for me before. The cats don't like to walk on them and ignore the plant because of it. I second other people's suggestions about planting something that they can chew, like catnip. But you have to do something to let them know that the other plants are off limits. Spray bottle, shaking a tin can with a coin in it, whatever humane way you can startle/annoy your cat will eventually curb the bad habits. You can't be afraid to annoy the cat, which is all spraying it with water is doing. Just have to get over it!

I've got my basil garden on top of a stereo console under a west-facing window. It's THRIVING.
I rotated the plants yesterday, and set them on the coffee table for a second... and my toddler roommate did exactly what the cat in the post pic is doing! She sneaked up and sniffed the basil like it was a flower.
<3

spray bottles didn't work on my cats - it might deter her while i was pointing the bottle at her, but as soon as i turned my back....munch, munch, munch. i initially tried the "spray her while she is distracted eating so she doesn't know its me" thing so she would associate the water spray with the plants and not me, but that didn't work over time. It isn't always about discipline and "manning up". also, my cat can't control herself around catgrass - she always eats too much and pukes. always.

i did try rubbing cayenne pepper/water paste on the leaves and i think it worked, though she just moved on to my poor half-dead hibiscus. i think i'll have to the cayenne or sriracha route again.

I don't; I keep the plants outside and the cats inside. While I do miss having fresh flowers in the house, I don't miss having chewed up flowers that are then thrown up in a trail around the house.

Some battles are not worth fighting.

After a recent frantic call to poison control after Biscuit ate a (poisonous) cala lily one Sunday afternoon, all plants are hanging or in terrariums. Large candle lanterns make super terrariums!

Or they are silk/plastic as I simply MUST have something in my pretty enameled pitchers :)

I've never seen a cat shake off a stream of water from a decent sprayer? Are you misting or squirting your cat?

I've used kabab skewer/puggy stick method, much like the toothpick reference above with some success.

I'm a proponent of the spray bottle- at the very most, it's simply unpleasant for the cat, and if you do it right, they don't associate the punishment with you. When I yell or say no, my cats seem to take it as a challenge and deliberately disobey.

As for plants, I gave up and bought fakes... and now my cat chews on those too. You can't win!

@joeshack - i definitely had a sharp stream of water. this was no spritz. a friends cat seems to actually enjoy the spray, so it doesn't work for her either... after a while, all i had to do was shake the spray bottle and that was enough to maker her pay attention, but it never stopped her from eating the plants when she thought i wasn't watching.

I gave up having leafy plants. They didn't like catnip or cat grass so I only have large cacti now. The cats stay away.

When I had my last cat, I always tried to keep a container of wheatgrass growing, and she wasn't interested in the rubbertree or pothos. Fresh flowers, on the other hand, were a problem. Eventually figured out some she didn't like and stuck to those, but no roses, tulips or anything that smelled (mrroow!) awesome.

Over the years the cats all learned, either by the spray bottle or an episode of judicious cat flinging when the kitten climbed the 5' jade tree. They don't wake me up for breakfast, either. I've had some of my house plants for over 33 years, and giving up on them is not an option.

The pointier the plant, the less they mess with it. Pointy pointy cacti are an option.

It looks like the original poster already knows the answer to their question, they just need to be more consistent with the kitty discipline.

Drop the spray bottle and grab a squirt gun! Invite some friends over to watch a movie, tell them to bring their squirt guns over too, then let the kitty discipline and the good times roll. It's also a lot easier to tuck a squirt gun into your pocket and carry it around the house throughout the day than it is to deal with a spray bottle. If your cat is anything like the ones that I have had, they notice when you don't have the spray bottle handy and they will take advantage of that window of opportunity.

It will hurt you more than it hurts the cat, but remember that kitty discipline is a way to correct their bad behavior, it's not to be mean.

I used to wet my indoor plants down with "Bitter Apple" spray. The kitties go outside these days, and so they leave the indoor plants alone. (But they still barf grass everywhere :)

http://www.amazon.com/Grannicks-Bitter-Apple-Bottle-Ounces/dp/B00028ZMEO

I totally recommend a SSScat. It's basically a spray air can with a motion sensor on top of it. It doesn't harm the cat but my kitties aren't fond of it and it keeps them away from things. Plus it's a way to keep them away from stuff when you're not home. The refills are a bit pricey but I've been able to find canned air with a similar top at my local office supply store for much cheaper.

I am fortunate in that I have spots high enough that the cats can't reach them that get adequate lighting. But I stick to non-toxic plants just in case one of my cats ever finds a way up.

Just a reminder on catnip: it takes time for kittens to develop a sensitivity to catnip (and some never will) so keep that in mind when choosing a plant to distract them. I stick with cat grass because my two cats are only mildly interested in catnip.

I've tried everything too, and one of my cats is just hell bent on destroying plants (and sampling them, which worries me)! She'll even go after cacti, and I tried spraying plants with Tabasco, etc. The only thing that works is hanging them from the ceiling and keeping them outside.

Some of my solutions have already been mentioned: macrame hangers and cat grass. But I did pick up a rather ingenius idea from someone I used to volunteer with. My oldest cat had the habit of using any plant big enough for me to have on the floor as her litter box, which would kill them. I tried tape, screening, all sorts of things. Finally this guy said to put knicknacks in the dirt so that all these odd angles would be poking out every which way and she wouldn't want to walk on it. So I rounded up knicknacks, happy meal toys, anything waterproof I could find, and viola: no litter box actions. My only problem now is my new kitty has figured out how to lean against the pot with his front paws while standing on his back paws to reach the lower leaves to chew. I'm sticking the next pot of cat grass there and putting double-sided tape on the pot; hopefully that works! XD

Something works extremely well: pepper !!

What's wrong with a spray bottle? They have to learn somehow & what sort of cat listens to reasoned explanations? We have flowers on a stand behind a sofa, on book shelves, and on a bedside table, and Widmerpool leaves them all alone. Mind you, he's enjoying the current mouse plague.

I am still working on keeping my cat away from my jade leaves, but I put decorative rocks in the pot on top of the soil. It isn't tempting to dig for the cat anymore, and it is kind of pretty. White, black, and clear rocks under a jade is nicer to look at than dirt anyway.

I've yet to keep a non-succulent from getting destroyed by him though. The leaves are gnawed quickly.

I take a lemon and rub some juice on the leaves of my bamboo plant that my cat keeps playing with and chewing on. Its harmless to the plant and my cat as well as myself. Cats just hate the smell of lemon so itll turn him off. U can try it out by offering your cat a lemon slice n itll send them running the opposite direction. I actually thought of this myself recently

I literally imagined your cats planning (movie style) how to get to those plants crossing all the room in a big fantastic jump.

And by the way, this post is so useful ! I recently started to grow some greens (coriander, oregano, ciboulette and some cat grass) and my cat can't stop putting her paws in the soil.

i dont believe in putting chemicals on my plants it might hurt my cat so i bought that plastic with spikes on the bottom i turned it over and my cat or dogs dont like to walk on it

We don't have any peppermint oil handy, but I do use Eucalyptus oil for my children when they are sick. Going to try that today, and hopefully, she will hate the smell, and leave our flowers alone!! Thanks for the idea!!

Can I ask you where you got your spiked mat? Is it made esecially for this problem? I'd like to get one, thanks!!