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A succulent surprise

Posted on May 23rd, 2007 – 2:10 PM
By Jaime Chismar

My succulent garden is slowly filling in. Just about everything survived transplanting. There are still a few open patches, but my bank account can no longer support impulse purchases — Especially when I still have seeds to plant.

A week ago, I noticed that a few hens-and-chicks were looking kinda ratty around the edges. I chalked it up to an unseasonably cold night and quickly forgot about it.

A few days later, there were two giant holes and dirt everywhere. Several plants were missing and rocks were out of place.

Naughty neighbors? Evil squirrels?

I bent down for a closer look. I put my hand in the dirt. It slipped on something warm and squishy — something that was definitly not sedum and definitely not dirt. My brain moved slowly. I stared at the ground, then at my hand, then at my succulent surprise — FRESH CAT POOP!!!!

My sedum garden is now the neighborhood cat box.

So gross.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 2:10 pm and is filed under Critters + vermin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

6 Responses to "A succulent surprise"

Peter Hoh says:

May 23rd, 2007 at 3:25 pm

Two things to help discourage cats: keep the soil moist and/or insert 12 inch long sticks or stalks every 4 inches. If you put the sticks halfway into the ground, the cats won’t be able to knock them over. No kitty wants a litter box that resembles a cactus.

Jaime Chismar says:

May 23rd, 2007 at 5:20 pm

Wow! What a great visual. You know, I think most of my shock comes from a sense of betrayal. We have four indoor cats and I feel like understand our feline friends. Then some neigborhood tomcat comes prancing through to mark his territory and give all cats a bad name.

happygardner78 says:

May 23rd, 2007 at 6:42 pm

I HAVE TWO CATS THAT I LET OUTSIDE. LION AND SHADOW. BOTH CATS LOVE TO POOP IN MY NEIGHBORS GARDEN. SHE LET ME KNOW WHAT MY CATS WERE UP TO. WE CAME UP WITH A COMPRAMISE, I COULD CONTINUE TO LET MY CATS OUT AT NIGHT IF I COULD GET THEM TO STOP POOPING IN HER GARDEN. I WENT TO MY LOCAL GARDEN STORE, MIDWEST SUPPLIES OVER IN ST. LOUIS PARK, AND BROUGHT UP MY DILEMA TO THEM. THEY GAVE ME A PRODUCT CALLED LIQUID FENCE WHICH IS MENT TO DETER RABBITS AND DEER. I TOOK IT HOME AND SPRAYED IT AROUND MY NEIGHBORS GARDEN. ABOUT A WEEK LATER MY WIFE WAS IN OUR GARDEN AND TOLD ME THE CATS ARE POOPING IN OUR GARDEN NOW, SO I QUESS THE STUFF WORKS TO DETER CATS AS WELL. WE WON’T SPRAY OUR GARDEN BECAUSE THE KITTYS NEED SOME PLACE TO DO THEIR BUSINESS.

Judybusy says:

May 24th, 2007 at 8:19 am

Eeeew!Another deterrent is cayenne pepper, which can be bought in liberal amounts at any local food co-op. Just sprinkle on the ground where you want to deter the cats. I’ve used it for years with my beloved animals and they seem no worse for wear!

Kim says:

May 24th, 2007 at 9:24 am

EWWWW! Yet another deterrent is sharp-edged rock (like limestone chips, for example–not the smooth river rock.) Might look nice as mulch around your sedums until they fill in anyway.

bunkie says:

June 2nd, 2007 at 10:01 pm

I don’t have the cat poop problem, but have a terrible problem with slugs in my beautiful hosta garden. Have tried Sluggo, wet newspapers, boards, beer, etc. and have not been successful. Do you have any other suggestions?

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