[Pauline]

Four-legged, not six-legged, so I hope this is in the right place.

1

Something - chief suspects kounavi and moggy - occasionally burrows into my pots of Pelargoniums, shredding the whole plant in the process. Last night it was a recently-planted specimen whose pot was literally bristling with pointed sticks that proved to be no deterrent whatsoever.

I have now salvaged the remaining bits and put them back in the pot with a top-dressing of fairly chunky gravel.

Meanwhile elsewhere I'm trying chicken wire pinned down over the surface of the compost.

2

I've also had problems with sheep munching some shrubs in pots I naïvely put outside the gate (to gently discourage people from parking in front of it); these now contain Oleanders. Eat that, you woolly devils!

Has anyone had either of these problems and/or has another solution to suggest? 

[Pauline]

Update:

Chunky gravel not effective - there has been no more burrowing but the plant itself has been repeatedly shredded. It now barely exists. The little beast has since decimated a Lavender and had a go at a Hebe.

I'm now pretty certain that the culprit is a Kounavi, and that the problem will only be resolved when we put into action our plan to have dogs. And then I suppose we'll have to train our dogs not to attack the plants. *Sigh*

[Hilary]

We have a problem with the local cats.
There are two long troughs in the entrance to the block of flats where some poor Schefflera and Benjamin figs try to keep alive.
Recently the local cats have discovered this place and use it at night.
So far we have tried spraying the earth with vinegar and some product on the market.
One of the residents had the bright idea of closing the flap of the rubbish bins thus making the cats go to another neighborhood  for their supper.
This has actually reduced the problem of earth all over the marble floor but not solved it.
I had decided that the open earth should be covered with pebbles from the beach, not far down the road,  and we had brought a bag full home after out May Wreath making expedition.
One day, At 5 pm,  I was down at the entrance trying to encourage the plants with some fertilizer and water.
What a lot of traffic there was of people and teenagers coming and going at 5 pm.
I told them all that when they go to the beach to bring back a bag of stones. All thought this was a brilliant idea but so far I have not seen one added pebble to my effort.
However, the cats seem to have stopped using the area where I put the pebbles.
Aopartt from the souvlaki stick idea does anyone have a favourite cat deterrent?