Apartment Therapy Los Angeles | The Natural Garden Critter Repellent: Cinammon

The Natural Garden Critter Repellent: Cinammon

Sometimes wisdom comes from the most unexpected of sources. Earlier this week my car died while commuting over the Hollywood freeway, necessitating the help of a flatbed tow truck. The middle aged Guatemalan tow truck driver ended up imparting a helpful natural garden solution that discourages creatures from prowling into the backyard at night and also leaving "presents". He had trouble with cats using his backyard as a feline outhouse, but didn't want to capture or hurt them. Instead, he recommended the use of ground cinnamon; he advised purchasing it in bulk at discount groceries like Costco or latin markets that sell the spice in large amounts. Apparently cats dislike the smell and just mosey along, looking for more agreeable pastures; he hasn't had any problems since sprinkling it around the borders and corners of his garden.

I might give this a try, since our apartment's front yard has become my neighbor's cat's "spot" for doing her thing, and it's not too fun cleaning the garden with these little presents from our otherwise pleasant whiskered friend, Inga. Knowing how resourceful she is, I wouldn't be surprised if she just got some eggs, flour and sugar and baked me some cat litter cookies.

Comments (3)

Sorry for commenting on every post, but this tip is brilliant! Every morning I have to pick up the little offerings the neighborhood cats leave in my garden. I've tried covering my garden beds with chicken wire and old boards so that they will at confine their activities to the walkway mulch. I'm trying the cinammon tonight!

posted by perejil on July 19th 2007 at 3:11pm
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Does anyone have a solution for possums or rats or squirrels (I'm not sure which are the problem)? They are enjoying feasting on our tomatoes. I've tried cayenne, amonia, and we just set a havaheart trap last night that they were able to steal the treat without setting off the trap. :(

posted by payzlee on July 20th 2007 at 8:29am
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How about dogs?!

I'll try this trick for the cats (we have cats that come and sit under our windows, hoping to chat up our little girl) but we also seem to attract all the dogs in the neighborhood - seriously, there have been 3 stray/loner/out walking dogs in our yard this week alone. They just walk right up to our house, and basically knock at our door, use our yard, and we are at a loss. It drives *my* animals nuts (sweet little kitty cat and quite land-protective labrador).

Any suggestions to keep the dogs out? We're not allowed to build a wall around the property so.....

posted by Blue_roses on July 20th 2007 at 8:40am
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