And how to keep them in?

It's on your keyboard Val. Make sure there is no space between @ and the members name, the forum will suggest the correct name from a drop down list as soon as you type the first 2 or 3 characters.

Everything you ever wanted to know about tagging: http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/tagging-system.49000/

 

Sorry I'm late in on this one.

Hi Anne, let me explain what has happened to me when when I acquired two Cats [one of which is tapping me with it's paw right now for attention] I'm semi-retired now but I would get home from work to find the youngest cat [Jenny] on the flat root of the garage and I would have to get the ladder out while I was still in a suit and tie to get her down. Either that or one of the neighbours would hand her back to me when I got home. My main worry was not the climbing or having to retrieve a cat from a high point but that one of the cats would get hurt or run over. My brother lives behind Dove Holes on a farm in Derbyshire right out in one of the quietest lanes and yet one of his cats got killed by a car.
I have a reasonable sized garden and my dilemma was how to keep both cats within the boundary of the garden. I have 6' to 8' fences all around but to Jenny they were easy to climb and I had to find something that would make it uncomfortable for her to climb. After a word with the neighbours about an idea I had, and their thumbs up about it, I bought some 2"x 1" timber and chicken wire. Then I cut the timber into 2' or 3' lengths and fixed them vertically to both ends of a panel so that 95% were above the panels. I then fixed chicken wire to the vertical timber giving the fence an extra 2 or 3 feet in height. The important thing is to fix the chicken wire to the timber so that it is not tight, the reason for that I will explain. You also have to staple the bottom edge of the chicken wire to the fence panel so that there is not a gap the cat can get through. When a cat [mine trying to get out or one trying to get in my garden] tries to climb the fence and reaches the chicken wire the weight of the cat makes the chicken wire sag towards the cat. The cat is then leaning backwards trying to cling onto thin wire with it's claws which moves every time the cat does.........and they do not like the sensation of almost falling backwards. I also built from timber a 8' high solid gate entrance to the garden.
I had to do it in stages due to working and time available but it has been worth the effort as since then no cat has got out of the garden and no cat has got in. Having said that Jenny the cat was something like the Dinosaur Raptor in Jurassic Park where it tested the fences!! She went around methodically trying to find a hole somewhere and did twice in areas where I thought a shrub would stop her . But in the end I put the chicken wire all around and she has not got out since.
The chicken wire being thin blends in against the background and I never notice it now. My Kitchen door is open during the day so the cats can go in and out as they please. I don't like the idea of a cat flap as it ruins a quality door.
It's not the perfect all round answer because all gardens are different and so are people, but it has worked for me and I have stopped worrying about retrieving a cat from the garage roof, it being in a neighbours garden, getting run over. or when it goes out through the Kitchen door into the garden. It all depends on how much effort you want to put into stopping cats getting in or out of your garden.

 

It was worth it just for the peace of mind and knowing that the cats were safe.

 

That worked Fern4

That also worked Val..

 

Well, if you look at my ambles around my garden, Honeybunny, you'll see some of my fences! But I can take some other pics for you if you like.