A while ago I set up a new border along one side of our garden. This
consists of an area where I have planted some varieties of clematis along a
fence, and in front of these some small azalia and potentilla bushes.

I covered the ground with a patchwork of weed-suppressing membrane, and
covered this with cocoa mulch, and the area is bordered with a low wooden
edging.

Every night nocturnal vermit, which I wll call 'cats' for the sake of
brevity, come along and keep scraping at this, trying to leave places to
deposit kind 'gifts'. This makes a right mess, covering the small plants
with cocoa mulch, and pulling up edges of the membrane, and getting mulch
underneath.

I have tried putting out granules smelling of citronella - but the 'cats'
seem to have no sense of smell.

I have also tried ultrasonic 'animal away' scarers (sic) - but they seem
stone deaf as well.

I'd like to try two things:

1) On a 'Gardener's World' programme on BBC a few weeks ago they showed in
passing some staples for fixing membrane to the ground. Our local garden
center has never heard of them. So can someone give contact details for
where I can buy some of these (or an equivalent) but post?

2) I'd like to replace the cocoa mulch with something heaver. e.g. pebbles
around 20mm diameter. Again, our local garden center has none. So can
someone recommend a source where I can buy these buy post?

I'm hoping that by employing both the above I can put off the 'cats'. But I
have my doubts... :-/

Slainte,

Jim

--
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The message
from Jim Lesurf contains these words:

/snip/

Every night nocturnal vermit, which I wll call 'cats' for the sake of
brevity, come along and keep scraping at this, trying to leave places to
deposit kind 'gifts'. This makes a right mess, covering the small plants
with cocoa mulch, and pulling up edges of the membrane, and getting mulch
underneath.

I have tried putting out granules smelling of citronella - but the 'cats'
seem to have no sense of smell.

Find a chemical distribution firm, or order from a good chemist a
plastic jar of aluminium ammonium sulphate and sprinkle some of the
crystals over the area. Cats have a very developed sense of smell - I
can't smell anything from the crystals.

They break down into useful compounds.

I have also tried ultrasonic 'animal away' scarers (sic) - but they seem
stone deaf as well.

IME they're useless.

I'd like to try two things:

1) On a 'Gardener's World' programme on BBC a few weeks ago they showed in
passing some staples for fixing membrane to the ground. Our local garden
center has never heard of them. So can someone give contact details for
where I can buy some of these (or an equivalent) but post?

Buy some fencing wire from an ironmonger or DIY place. Cut into lengths
- how long depends how soft your ground is. Bend it into |¯¯| shape and
press into the ground through the membrane round the edge.

2) I'd like to replace the cocoa mulch with something heaver. e.g. pebbles
around 20mm diameter. Again, our local garden center has none. So can
someone recommend a source where I can buy these buy post?

Post? POST? Have you any idea how much that would cost? Most builders'
merchants deliver.

I'm hoping that by employing both the above I can put off the 'cats'. But I
have my doubts... :-/

Slainte,

Slaìnte mhòr.

--
Tony http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The only way to tell when a Finn is in love with you
is that they look at your feet instead of their own.

In article , Anthony Anson
wrote:
The message from Jim Lesurf
contains these words:



I'd like to try two things:

1) On a 'Gardener's World' programme on BBC a few weeks ago they
showed in passing some staples for fixing membrane to the ground. Our
local garden center has never heard of them. So can someone give
contact details for where I can buy some of these (or an equivalent)
but post?

Buy some fencing wire from an ironmonger or DIY place. Cut into lengths
- how long depends how soft your ground is. Bend it into |¯¯| shape and
press into the ground through the membrane round the edge.

That sounds like a good idea. I'll have a look for something like that.
:-)

2) I'd like to replace the cocoa mulch with something heaver. e.g.
pebbles around 20mm diameter. Again, our local garden center has none.
So can someone recommend a source where I can buy these buy post?

Post? POST? Have you any idea how much that would cost?

Erm... 1st class stamp. The idea is that I post the order+cheque, and
then...

Most builders' merchants deliver.

...they deliver to my order. :-)

I was hoping that some garden suppliers would have a decent range, buyable
in small amounts via post. However perhaps I should also phone any local
merchants as you say, and see if they can help. I only want to cover a few
square metres.

The annoying thing is that I'll have to clear away all the coca mulch
before I can refix the membrane, etc. Load of expletive work because our
local 'cats' are deaf, have no sense of smell, and are a PITA. Annoying
that the ultrasonic scared was useless... Waste of effort tidying the area
when I installed it. The next morning I found the damage was done again
overnight.

Alas, the tiny potentilla plants in particular get their leaves covered and
buried. The leaves then rot. The cocoa mulch seems successful elsewhere,
but that is where I have taller plants, so can use a deeper layer of mulch
and the plants have their leaves too high to be covered if a cat throws
mulch about.

The odd thing is that the cat doesn't leave a present as the mix of folded
membrane and mulch seem to put it off. But every night it has another try.
Stupid as well as deaf and no sense of smell...

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article , Anthony Anson
wrote:

The message from Jim Lesurf
contains these words:



I'd like to try two things:


1) On a 'Gardener's World' programme on BBC a few weeks ago they
showed in passing some staples for fixing membrane to the ground. Our
local garden center has never heard of them. So can someone give
contact details for where I can buy some of these (or an equivalent)
but post?


Buy some fencing wire from an ironmonger or DIY place. Cut into lengths
- how long depends how soft your ground is. Bend it into |¯¯| shape and
press into the ground through the membrane round the edge.


That sounds like a good idea. I'll have a look for something like that.
:-)


2) I'd like to replace the cocoa mulch with something heaver. e.g.
pebbles around 20mm diameter. Again, our local garden center has none.
So can someone recommend a source where I can buy these buy post?


Post? POST? Have you any idea how much that would cost?


Erm... 1st class stamp. The idea is that I post the order+cheque, and
then...


Most builders' merchants deliver.


...they deliver to my order. :-)

I was hoping that some garden suppliers would have a decent range, buyable
in small amounts via post. However perhaps I should also phone any local
merchants as you say, and see if they can help. I only want to cover a few
square metres.

The annoying thing is that I'll have to clear away all the coca mulch
before I can refix the membrane, etc. Load of expletive work because our
local 'cats' are deaf, have no sense of smell, and are a PITA. Annoying
that the ultrasonic scared was useless... Waste of effort tidying the area
when I installed it. The next morning I found the damage was done again
overnight.

Alas, the tiny potentilla plants in particular get their leaves covered and
buried. The leaves then rot. The cocoa mulch seems successful elsewhere,
but that is where I have taller plants, so can use a deeper layer of mulch
and the plants have their leaves too high to be covered if a cat throws
mulch about.

The odd thing is that the cat doesn't leave a present as the mix of folded
membrane and mulch seem to put it off. But every night it has another try.
Stupid as well as deaf and no sense of smell...

Slainte,

Jim

I buy my pebbles from builders merchants, sadly though they will charge,
about £7 here, for any order under £100. Travis Perkins do quite a wide
range of decorative pebbles and gravels, though they are much the same.

--
All replies to this email address are deleted on receipt.

Common sense, not common market.

In article , Jim Lesurf jcgl@st-
and.demon.co.uk writes
The odd thing is that the cat doesn't leave a present as the mix of folded
membrane and mulch seem to put it off. But every night it has another try.
Stupid as well as deaf and no sense of smell...

Doesn't sound like a cat. The cat deposits first, then scrapes to cover
the smell. So it would disturb the membrane until it had left a deposit.
Sounds more like something foraging for food in there.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

The message
from Jim Lesurf contains these words:


So can someone recommend a source where I can buy these buy post?

Post? POST? Have you any idea how much that would cost?

Erm... 1st class stamp. The idea is that I post the order+cheque, and
then...

Most builders' merchants deliver.

...they deliver to my order. :-)

They charge delivery, usually a standard charge regardless of quantity.

The odd thing is that the cat doesn't leave a present as the mix of folded
membrane and mulch seem to put it off. But every night it has another try.
Stupid as well as deaf and no sense of smell...

Then it probably isn't cats. Much digging and tossing with no pooh is
far more likely to be birds or possibly foxes looking for worms and
insects.

Janet.

In article , Kay
wrote:
In article , Jim Lesurf jcgl@st-
and.demon.co.uk writes
The odd thing is that the cat doesn't leave a present as the mix of
folded membrane and mulch seem to put it off. But every night it has
another try. Stupid as well as deaf and no sense of smell...

Doesn't sound like a cat. The cat deposits first, then scrapes to cover
the smell. So it would disturb the membrane until it had left a deposit.
Sounds more like something foraging for food in there.

It is certainly possible that it is something other than a cat/cats. This
was why I was using 'cats' (in inverted commas) and worded my initial
posting as I did. The puzzle, though, is what is it, if not a cat?

The evidence I had until shortly ago is as follows.

The distruction tends to occur overnight.

I have seen blackbirds pecking at the mulch, turning it over looking for
insects/worms. However they seem to attack relatively small areas, and
stand near where they peck. Hence having watched them peck over another
area where I have cocoa mulch but not membrane, I felt it doubtful they
would be able to lift and fold back such large areas of membrane, and do so
much damage in one night.

Whereas we do live near a 'cat lady' who feeds an ever-changing population
of the order of 1-2 dozen cats. Many of which do leave gifts in our garden,
often not bothering to cover them after deposit.

OTOH We may have other bird visitors. e,g, we do occasionally see a
pheasant, and I did hear this calling nearby in the early morning a day or
two ago. This may well be large enough to do the damage if it has the
necessary habits...

And since both the citronella and the ultrasonic 'scarer' seem to have zero
effect, perhaps some non-cat-creature(s) are indeed the culprits.

Whatever, short of sitting out 24 hours/day with a bow and arrow, I will
hope that heavy stones will be less prone to disturbance than the cocoa
mulch. :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

In article , Janet Baraclough
wrote:
The message from Jim Lesurf
contains these words:


So can someone recommend a source where I can buy these buy post?

Post? POST? Have you any idea how much that would cost?

Erm... 1st class stamp. The idea is that I post the order+cheque, and
then...

Most builders' merchants deliver.

...they deliver to my order. :-)

They charge delivery, usually a standard charge regardless of
quantity.

Fair enough, that's pretty much what I'd expected. Since I don't own a car
their making a delivery charge seems fine to me. Otherwise I'd have to hire
a taxi with a boot large enough to carry a load of rocks. This can be
quite expensive, so all being well, the delivery charges will cost less.

The odd thing is that the cat doesn't leave a present as the mix of
folded membrane and mulch seem to put it off. But every night it has
another try. Stupid as well as deaf and no sense of smell...

Then it probably isn't cats. Much digging and tossing with no pooh is
far more likely to be birds or possibly foxes looking for worms and
insects.

Quite possibly. See my longer response to Kay's comments on this. It may
indeed not be cats. My concern is to stop the damage regardless of the
identity of the villains involved. :-)

Indeed, I have the impression that there have been fewer sightings of cats
in our garden since I installed the 'scarer', so I'll leave it in place for
a white and see if it reduces the incidence of visits which leave 'gifts'.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

The message
from Jim Lesurf contains these words:

It is certainly possible that it is something other than a cat/cats. This
was why I was using 'cats' (in inverted commas) and worded my initial
posting as I did. The puzzle, though, is what is it, if not a cat?

The evidence I had until shortly ago is as follows.

The distruction tends to occur overnight.

I have seen blackbirds pecking at the mulch, turning it over looking for
insects/worms. However they seem to attack relatively small areas, and
stand near where they peck. Hence having watched them peck over another
area where I have cocoa mulch but not membrane, I felt it doubtful they
would be able to lift and fold back such large areas of membrane, and do so
much damage in one night.

Hedgehogs?

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:17:30 +0100, Jim Lesurf wrote:

It is certainly possible that it is something other than a cat/cats. This
was why I was using 'cats' (in inverted commas) and worded my initial
posting as I did. The puzzle, though, is what is it, if not a cat?

Could it be a big grey bodied 'cat', with a black and white striped
face?

--
Cheers, Serena
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing
shall be well. (Julian of Norwich)

The message
from Serena Blanchflower contains these words:

On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:17:30 +0100, Jim Lesurf wrote:

It is certainly possible that it is something other than a cat/cats. This
was why I was using 'cats' (in inverted commas) and worded my initial
posting as I did. The puzzle, though, is what is it, if not a cat?

Could it be a big grey bodied 'cat', with a black and white striped
face?

IRTA "big grey hooded cat"

Sorry Kay

Janet.

In article , Jaques
d'Alltrades wrote:
The message from Jim Lesurf
contains these words:

It is certainly possible that it is something other than a cat/cats.


Hedgehogs?

It seems unlikely. The area in question is in the back garden surrounded by
a wooden fence on one side and wooden edging on the other. The garden is
bounded by fairly high walls/fences, and since we put bricks along the gap
at the bottom of the gateway (to stop cats getting under) we rarely see
them in the back garden.

We have had hedgehogs in the back garden in the past, but they seem to be
stopped by quite low barriers. They also preferred under the bird-feeders.
So we now tend to see them under the feeder in the kitchen garden at the
side of the house, but not at the back.

Slainte,

Jim

--
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Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

In article , Serena
Blanchflower wrote:
On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:17:30 +0100, Jim Lesurf wrote:

It is certainly possible that it is something other than a cat/cats.
This was why I was using 'cats' (in inverted commas) and worded my
initial posting as I did. The puzzle, though, is what is it, if not a
cat?

Could it be a big grey bodied 'cat', with a black and white striped face?

Do you mean a badger? If so, I doubt that any could get into our back
garden as it would have to climb a fence or wall at least 4 feet high. I
also doubt there are any nearby.

We do at times get 'kids' in the garden, as we back onto a park, but they
usually do other types of damage, like painting graffiti or breaking
windows. Doubt they'd be interested in raking over mulch... Although I
suppose that would be about as intelligent as what they *do* get up to...
:-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
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Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 09:50:33 +0100, Jim Lesurf wrote:

Do you mean a badger? If so, I doubt that any could get into our back
garden as it would have to climb a fence or wall at least 4 feet high. I
also doubt there are any nearby.

Yup, that was who I was thinking of. It's good news for your mulch if
they aren't the culprit as I doubt that they would be deterred by it
being staked down.

--
Cheers, Serena
I have never heard anything about the resolutions of the apostles, but
a good deal about their acts. (Horace Mann)

The message
from Jim Lesurf contains these words:

We have had hedgehogs in the back garden in the past, but they seem to be
stopped by quite low barriers. They also preferred under the bird-feeders.
So we now tend to see them under the feeder in the kitchen garden at the
side of the house, but not at the back.

Have you seen a determined hodgeheg? You wouldn't think they'd climb,
but they do.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/