By Ninja
Norfolk,
United Kingdom 
Hi, this might be a strange one, but I have a corner of the garden which is in shade all day, and a few weeks ago I noticed the plants turning brown and withering. I have a fern, salix, cordyline and some ivy in this bed and on investigation there is a strong smell of ammonia in this area, I have noticed the same smell around the pond and seating area. Is this cats using the area? We have a lot of feline visitors and one of our own, but our own has been spayed. If this is what it is, what plants are most effective in discouraging them? I don't want to use anything else as I don't want to discourage them or our own cat from visiting, just from spraying in certain areas.
19 May, 2011
Answers
I have the same problen and have been using pepper dust with limited success. You have to remember to re apply after watering or rain. I have also pushed very short sticks in the ground - they can hardly be seen but if they are close enough together the cat cannot get between them to do what cats do!
19 May, 2011
Sounds like fox! Not alot you can do ...
19 May, 2011
I agree fox rather than cats... and nothing you can do realistically
19 May, 2011
Hi there,
I recon it's foxes too, I get a whiff evey now and again.
I've put some plants in attractive pots, so at least they pee up the pot and not the plants anymore.
Happy gardening.
20 May, 2011
Thanks for the replies, I didn't think we get foxes round here as I've never seen one, but I guess they're everywhere.
20 May, 2011
There are foxes in all urban areas... more so than in rural areas because of the food they can scavenge.
21 May, 2011
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Sounds like Tom cats to me, they pee on all the plants to mark their territory, I think they are a pest and there is not much you can do to deter them, because they will do it anyway! Also foxes do the same. There is a plant called 'scaredy cat', but not sure if it works.
19 May, 2011