Crushed up moth balls (naphthalene), chilli flakes and strangely I was looking at the uses of WD40 the other day and they reckon that spraying on the ground around the plants does the trick. Perhaps Google it and see what you think?

thanks jimmytheone will try

Agree on the mothballs, but they do have to be the old fashioned, napthalene, really strong smelling kind, and I'm not sure whether they still sell those..they'll need topping up every week or so if there's a lot of rain about. Chili flakes/powder are not recommended by the RSPCA... can cause cats a great deal of pain when they clean their paws. Otherwise, dig over an area elsewhere that you're not using much and they'll go there instead. Its only because the soil is loose and friable they're choosing to go where they are... the other option is prickly branches (holly, berberis) laid over the area. Doesn't look fantastic, but does the job...but you'll need to clear away what's there currently. Previous doings attract more doings...

Cats like to be secure from attacks when they're pooping. Anything that makes a noise &/or moves puts them off: kid's windmills, light plastic attached to sticks or fences, old cd's strung up, etc.
Pushing twigs upright into the soil every 3 or 4 inches across the whole area of loose soil is effective if time consuming & not particularly attractive

The twig trick will not work. I put a lot of small bamboo sticks that had been cut on an angle into pots because my cats were sleeping on top of the plants. They continued to get in there, wiggle around a little and then get comfy. A small patch of ground that is turned over frequently will get used and lure them away from harder dirt that is around your plants.

Citrus peels work for me & vacuum cleaner fluff. No poop in my beds.

From experience twigs can work, maybe not for everyone though...

Prickly branches work - non prickly ones don't, unless you stand 'em upright close together and weave string in between... I know, I've tried 'em all down the years!

Thanks all.

I have found that citrus peel works too but only lasts for a week. I save all my orange peel, dry it off in the oven, crush & scatter it around. Once it has been rained on it's not so effective.

Look at hywel's blog for mid February. He has put down a wire mesh which seems to be working for him.

With me, citrus is a regular part of my diet, so it's always renewed & not so unsightly as brambles. The vacuum cleaner fluff works too. Eventually, the cats just won't come back anymore even if you don't use it, because they learned.

You could have a rethink of your flower beds, by introducing some ground cover planting, you could create a tapestry of ground hugging plants, this can still work well if you have some established shrubs there, in the past when faced with this problem for clients I have used ground cover combinations of mixed heather, cotoneaster, and ground cover roses, in large situations these look good, in smaller areas other plants may be used, Iberis, heather, cerastium, aubreitia, etc, for shade add a drift of elephants ear, Bergenia

I have a problem with a cat who likes to use my front or back lawn. it scrapes out the dead moss (good) but in exchange for that leaves its deposits. I use Get Off which does seem to deter it but, of course, when it rains you have to repeat the spraying. Still, the cat doesn't appear to have returned since the last spraying several weeks ago so I'm hoping he's been put off for good.

Cats have a very sensitive nose so anything with a strong odor will put them off. Certain plants like citronella, lemon grass, garlic can serve double duty in the flower bed. You can now get Pelargonium Citronella.

sent for old type moth balls crushed them been 3 days no cat mess no holes in flower beds done the trick i hope, thanks all for your help.