Avery popular question here Im sure and Im new by the way so hello

Hi Smasher, welcome to GOY. My mum had this problem years ago when we moved into a house that had been empty for years. She put down orange and lemon peel where they were leaving their mess, she had to put it in many places as the garden was been used by every stray cat there was in that area, it did work eventually.
Another tip I saw on the TV was to dry out used tea bags then spray them with deep heat and place them in several areas of your garden.
I hope this helps and good luck!

Hello and welcome, you could try putting some thorny material down, pyracantha is an excelent choice as i have seen this used to good effect, the only prblem being it does look a little unsightly.

thanks for the replies ,I took a few cuttings the other day from a wild bush looking thing outside a bingo hall ,wonderful purple flowers it had ,dont know what flower it is but its very thorney on the stalk like a bramble bush,i took four cuttings ,ive bunged em in a poot with a little rooting powder ,that might do the trick if it takes......il try the tebags too,gotta be yorkshire teabags though hehe

I thought it was funny that they were doing Poo in the wee hours... (Sorry!)
Another tip is don't make the soil surface loose - they will always go for preference in places that are easy to dig and will ignore harder surfaces. I say a product in a garden whop this week called cat shoo or something similar (not the plant of that name) but have no idea if it works. You can also get ultrasonic repellants that cover quite a wide area, but you have to make sure that your neighbour's garden is outside its range!

If you have roses, place the thorny prunings around on top of the earth - worked for my Dad.

welcome to GoY. I use small twigs stuck in the soil next to the newly planted plants.
i dont think there is anything really effective to stop them sadly.

Strange about loose soil and cats. I've been patiently sifting through an Allium Cowanei contaminated 6 foot circle in my garden for weeks......bare loose soil......no pussy cat poo......Why?????Only a foxy contribution, just shovelled up and buried in the compost heap. Yet last night ginger feral was on the garden seat, as usual. Perhaps they only do it when you've planted something like veggies or an expensive plant? Yet part of my precious Allium Cersum was just caught by a fox disinterring an artificial bone transported in from another dog owners garden. So same goes for dog owners too, as foxes make huge holes. Do not leave dog chews out in fox infested areas.......please.

It is most certainly East Yorkshire. North Humberside no longer exists and never really did in the majority of minds who live here.
I have tried putting rose and branch cuttings down and it appears to work, probably because it stops them excavating. Be careful about which one is responsible, Toms roam far and wide (what do they call a female?).

thanks for all the replies,il see how the jeyes works for a bit,dont think they like the stink but thorny stuff sounds good too ,just a case of placing it in the few remaining soft soil patches ,im hoping eventually therel be no soil left for em to crap in........

Jeyes fluid keeps lovers away from garden-side alley ways and preserves your fence panelling. Such a horrible pong. Not romantic at all. Just keep shovelling.

are those lovers cats or human lololol.......tbh its at the bottom of the garden so I cant smell it personally,it did the job before so im thinking it might be effective........

Cutsand grazes, cat breeders call the females queens but I don't think anybody else does...

now ive covered all bases with the jeyes in pots its decided to crap on the rose bed outside the house.........this time its war ....grrrrrrrrrrr

Overnight the fox has tipped a heavy clamshell birdbath off its stone pedestal, Dug another big hole near my precious allium cersum......bought 50 miles away at Beth Chattos garden, and carefully nurtured. Gallivanted all over a cleared, sifted patch of soil in my circle project, smoothed out, as we have a visitor today. Cats doings pale into nothing in comparison!!!!!

They sure are a pain Dorjac. One had a bit of a rest in some geraniums a few weeks ago and flattened a big area. And one dug up some iris reticulata from an urn earlier in the year - wouldn't have know what did it but I was awake in the night and happened to look out of the window at the right time...But also caught next door's cat leaving the garden with a slow worm dangling from its mouth - I wish it would hunt in its own garden instead of ours.

I know this is deffo cat poop as fox poop is black as far as I know and other neighbours have seen this one particular cat in their garden too ,its since some new neighbours moved in,im tempted to re deliver the said poop back to their garden tbh