Welcome deterrent

Birds have had to get used to them, as have gardeners, because a garden wouldn’t be a garden without a cat or two.

When it comes to beds and borders, the cat is king – or queen - and they use the garden as places to hunt, places to sun themselves, places to sharpen their claws, and places, unfortunately, to do what every cat has to do.

And as cat numbers seem to be on the increase, plants and planters are going to have to accommodate the comings and goings of a steady procession of felines.

No matter what you do to try to protect your plot, cats will continue to come and go as they please, using seedbeds as toilets, rolling and raking scented plants, hunting and slaying small mammals as they go about their innocent business, and trying to destroy the bird population.

They even wander round while you’re gardening. Sometimes they just watch, but there is always one which sits there, seemingly sizing up your ability as a gardener. And even if you ask them to take their opinions and themselves somewhere else, they don’t take the hint.

So, accept that you will never be able to make your garden a cat-free zone. But don’t let that deter you from defending your territory from other interlopers.

While a prickly berberis might not keep out the black tabby from up the street, it will give the right message to anything bigger which tries to force its way through the gap in the hedge.

Certain plants could have been invented for the purpose of protecting your property. Apart from berberis (plenty of interesting leaf colour, some lovely flowers and all those spikes), there’s the equally spiny pyracantha or firethorn, with barbs intimidating enough to keep at bay even the most determined of interlopers.

Hollies are also particularly useful. The young foliage may be a little soft around the edges, but as it matures, it gains in strength.

Finally, when it sheds its old leaves, they are as sharp as nails.

Roses also have their good points. Hawthorns are attractive and effective barriers, while a low-growing juniper is about as comfortable as a pea in a princess’s bed.

But if the thought of all those sharp bits and pieces puts you off, then consider other useful plants which, while providing foliage and stems impenetrable enough for your average trespasser, are not too dense to allow birds and small mammals room to manoeuvre.

Think tangly viburnums, bamboo and shrubby honeysuckle.

Or plant so thick that there’s no way through for even the most determined uninvited guest.