1259 days ago

Always finding your neighbour’s cats in your garden?

Robert Anderson from Curtain Clean Rotorua

Even though we all love animals, we are not always fans of other people’s cats doing their business in our gardens. Luckily, there is a handy, and animal-friendly, trick for this!

Cats are wonderful and cute animals, of course, but they’re a bit less cute when they pee, poo and dig all over our garden. This can cause a lot of trouble for you and your garden, so you might be looking for some tips to help prevent this! Because we are animal lovers, we don’t like the idea of scaring off cats with chemicals or nasty methods that aren’t animal friendly. We believe keeping cats out of your garden can also be done in a natural way.

There are several ways to discourage cats from coming into your garden that are in no way harmful to the cat but do give the required result. For instance, cats don’t like certain scents, which means you can use those to keep them out.


After asking around for a bit, we found out that a lot of people have trouble with neighbourhood cats in their garden. Some people love seeing those cute animals wandering around their garden, but other people would rather chase them away immediately. Everybody has their own methods for this as well. The most common method seems to be trying to scare the cat by yelling and waving your arms. Others go outside with a glass of water to try to pour over the cat. Of course, these methods don’t have the desired result. Some people get so frustrated that they end up in the newspaper because they tried shooting at the cats! That’s not what we want, so we’ve got a few tips for you instead.


Cats don’t like the smells of vinegar and citrus peel.


So, you can keep cats out of your garden pretty easily by putting bowls of vinegar or citrus peel in various places around the garden (in particular those places the cat likes to visit). The cat will then definitely stay away from those places. Another thing cats hate is cayenne pepper. So, it may be worth scattering a generous amount of cayenne pepper in places the cats like to visit. Then again, this may cause the cat to start sneezing violently, which make us feel a bit sorry for it.

If you don’t have any of these products at home and don’t feel like going to the supermarket, you could also try using garlic, ground coffee or chili pepper. Did you know about these natural, cat-resistant tips? Share them with your friends!

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More messages from your neighbours
1 hour ago

Think You’re the Smartest on the Block? Prove It with This Riddle!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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3 days ago

Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.

What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?

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When should the tree go up? 🎄
  • 5% Second half of November
    5% Complete
  • 44.7% 1st December
    44.7% Complete
  • 16.6% A week before Christmas
    16.6% Complete
  • 32.5% Whenever you wish
    32.5% Complete
  • 1.2% Other - I'll share below
    1.2% Complete
1557 votes
1 day ago

What's your favourite tomato recipe?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.

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