Short semi-evergreens to cover cat defence fence!

Hi,

First time visitor to the forum (hello!), and enthusiastic beginner gardener.

I moved into a house with a small derelict garden 2 years ago and have been slowly planting it up (my first garden).
Unfortunately, a local cat used it as a toilet and, despite my best efforts, every single morning I had to go out and remove poo and any dug up plants...

I snapped a couple of weeks ago (by my calculations = 700 picked up poos), and installed chicken wire around the entire perimeter!
Touch wood, I think this has finally solved it!

Unfortunately I had to remove part of a hedgerow (species unknown), in one area to fit the fence.
This has left a bare patch of about 2.5m long and 70-80cm high (please see photos), which I doubt will grow back anytime soon.

I've temporarily planted 3 x jasmine plants along the chicken wire to give some cover, but ideally I'd like to plant some new plants right up close to the wire to cover the gap completely.

- Ideally I'd like the plants to flower and be evergreen/as evergreen as possible.
- I really like the idea of Lavendar or similar plants, but don't think Lavendar will reach the required height?
- I quite like purples, pinks, whites, blues and to a lesser extent yellows.
- I don't really like "corporate plants" i.e. low maintenance "sharp" plants, similar to the ones you'd find in car parks.

The area is SE facing, with plenty of sunshine through the day.
Soil is around 1ft of neutral compost on top of clay.
Fairly warm area (Worcester/Vale of Evesham), with infrequent frosts.
Garden is small and easy to water throughout summer.











I'd really appreciate any ideas you may have!

Thanks a lot for your time.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Gorecki. I have a problem with neighbourhood cats so can sympathise with you.

Small evergreen shrubs.......Azalea, Cistus, Ceonothus, Daphne, Euonymous, Hebe, Pieris.

 

Thanks Sheal. It was surprisingly annoying near the end, I'd tried everything, chilli powder, ultrasonic scarers, wires on the tops of fences (hadn't resorted to lion poo yet), with no effect.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions (I hadn't heard of any of them other than euonymous).
Great ideas I'll start researching. I particularly like the look of Azalea's = exactly the sort of look I want (shame they're poisoness but will just have to be careful to wash my hands!).

Thanks again.

 

The only thing I've found that keeps cats out are dogs, but I haven't had one for some years now. Male urine sprinkled around the edge of a garden is supposed to work but some people don't like the idea of that.

I didn't know Azaleas were poisonous but that doesn't bother me. A high percentage of plants that we grow in our gardens are, but if we were to avoid them all we'd only have lawn.

 

"Male urine sprinkled around the edge of a garden is supposed to work"

Ummm... I actually tried that too but didn't want to mention it!

Azaleas it is! Thanks a lot for your help.

 

So, did the urine work Gorecki?

When you plant the Azalea's dig in some compost too, particularly if you garden on clay.

 

Vinegar with a little washing up liquid to make it adhere. Sprayed on slugs - my cat doesn't like it either. Cats are creatures of habit - looks like your chicken wire has broken the habit. Any cat could get over that but I expect the cat's lazy!