Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi

We moved last year to a small bungalow and it has a smallish back garden. It's mainly flint, but with bits for plants. I am looking for suggestions, on something that will bush out and provide shelter and shade for my cat. Obviously need something to be cat friendly have got lavender in, and welcome suggestions for any other cat friendly plants. Have got a large tub with some cat grass in which he totally ignores and tried some cat mint in a pot, but the only cat that didn't bother with it was Tom.

Thanks.

I've got a weeping, clumping bamboo that mine love. It grows to about 10' tall then bends over, so you end up with a nice cool shady area between the base of the clump and the tips of the cans. Check at your garden centre and make sure you get a clumping variety and what size clump it grows into, if you aren't careful bamboo can take over the whole garden.

If it is flint and the lavenders are doing well then you would probably be OK with other Mediterranean plants. We have a large rosemary bush that our darling Tommy use to sit under - with a big smile on his face! The little boys seem to like the upright rosemary 'Miss Jessup' and snuggle together INSIDE the hedge. Gracie favours astilbes but they are a plant that likes a moist soil. I would avoid grasses. I haven't found a cat yet that doesn't like throwing themselves into a grass and rolling all over it.

Ah I thought of rosemary; I have a huge bush in a pot that has got its toes into the brick path at the end of the garden, the bush I mean, not the pot ... I must raid it for some kleftiko; it's a gigantic beast.

They aren't shade plants, but years ago I bought a meek little pot of something that called itself Campanula Poscharskyana - and it's taken over. Huge harebell drifts everywhere ... comfortable for a cat to sleep in. 'Posharse' also honours the neighbours with its presence, as does Soleiria, another meek little thing with tiny leaves, known as 'Mind Your Own Business' - because it doesn't. A while back the guy supervising my house improvements admired it, wistfully, and asked if he could possibly have a clump. 'How much do you want?' I asked, getting out a large binbag. It'll be minding its business all over his garden by now. It'll be drinking his drink and using his phone. Actually it's very pleasant, it's like a sort of mossy lawny type thing, cool to basking bellies

Oh and don't get me started on the rambling hop, distributing its favours ... last year there was a magnificent specimen embracing a drainpipe further down the terrace ... what havoc a packet of seeds can wreak ...

have a look at this article from Your Cat for ideas

https://www.yourcat.co.uk/cat-advice/ca ... ly-garden/

I need more shade in my enclosed patio for the cats, so have just planted a dwarf acer which only grows about 6' tall but spreads out much more - the finely cut leaves provide the dappled shade cats love from spring to late autumn

https://goo.gl/images/HX3jBH

Choisya may be a good choice - grows to a reasonable size quite quickly but is easy to control, evergreen, flowers, makes a good umbrella of shade, and comes in different leaf colours and shapes. It does smell slightly of cat pee, though!

For really fast growing stuff big annuals like the mallow family or annual climbers - peas and beans up a wigwam make a shady spot in the middle.

Kay, that acer may surprise you yet! Five years ago I planted one for a friend. It is now about 7' tall but a good 10' across! A bit much for a small garden. You can prune it (carefully!) The reason it didn't mention it was they like a 'softer' soil than flint can offer. You can restrict them in a large pot. I'd do that.

As for peas, I had to stop the kittens getting into my peas because that's just what they were doing - peeing!

bobbys girl wrote:Kay, that acer may surprise you yet! Five years ago I planted one for a friend. It is now about 7' tall but a good 10' across! A bit much for a small garden. You can prune it (carefully!)

A 10ft spread is what I need, as it is in a half moon bed which is 10ft across - the idea is to underplant it with lots of small bulbs - crocus, eranthis, snowdrops, anemone blanda, dwarf daffs, scilla etc - it probably will never get to be too big anyway as I have tried all manner of plants in that bed over the years - I had some wonderful David Austin roses in there for three years but couldn't contain the blackspot and rust which is rampart in these parts - I have lost acers in the past from exposure to cold easterly winds (which would be most welcome at the moment!) but it will be fairly easy to chuck a horticultural fleece over this one if needs be, as it is near the back door

bobbys girl wrote:Kay, that acer may surprise you yet! Five years ago I planted one for a friend. It is now about 7' tall but a good 10' across! A bit much for a small garden. You can prune it (carefully!) The reason it didn't mention it was they like a 'softer' soil than flint can offer. You can restrict them in a large pot. I'd do that.

As for peas, I had to stop the kittens getting into my peas because that's just what they were doing - peeing!

And watch out for the leeks!

I was over at that garden today and took a photo of the acer. The drive in front of it is a regular width. Hard to see the sale of it from this picture. Plenty of shade under that!

That would be perfect for my patio bed, though I can't see bulbs thriving underneath once it gets to that stage

There are snowdrops under that one.

bobbys girl wrote:There are snowdrops under that one.

excellent - and thanks very much for the photo - my cats are going to be very happy underneath something like that, if they live long enough for mine to reach that size anyway - though when Tiffany is no longer with me I shall bring in the two outside cats, which currently spend a lot of time lying under the mature trees in my outside garden

bobbys girl wrote:There are snowdrops under that one.

Great advice! Thanks.