It's Spring Time again and you know what that means. It's time to get out there are do some Spring Cleaning. Time to clean up your flower beds and vegetable gardens and get them ready for new growth!
But how do you keep those neighborhood cats from using your flower beds as their litter box?
How do you keep your dog from trampling all over your flowers, plants and shrubs in your backyard?
The Answer... COFFEE GROUNDS 
Our local Eureka California Starbucks gives this stuff away for free! And not only does it keep those pesky pets out of your yard, it helps you nourish your plants too! I live in a neighborhood where we have good number of cats, both strays and ones who have owners, who hang out near my house all the time. Of course it doesn't help that one of my neighbors feeds the strays. Oh well. Last year, while doing some needed weeding, I would always grab onto some cat poop accidentally. Thank goodness I wore gloves. It's kind of gross.
So my husband and I started adding coffee grounds to our flower beds and viola, no more kitty litter flower beds for us. Plus our flowers and roses looked healthier. So guess what...we killed two birds with one stone. We found a way to keep the local pet community out of our yard and help our plants grow healthier in the long run.
Keeping your Dog out of Your Flower Beds
Another problem was Benjamin (my dog) and oh yes he is very cute, but also very destructive. He had this ritual of walking the perimeter of our backyard every morning, (which is where my landscaped beds are located), trampling on every plant in site. So my husband and I decided to try the coffee ground method and see if it made a difference. We applied several bags of coffee grounds on all of our beds, and lo and behold it worked!
Benjamin is staying away from our flowerbeds. Yeah! Last year our perimeter beds looked like a war zone, this year they are lush green and beautiful!
Other garden pet repellents:
Just like coffee grounds, I've heard that Cayenne Pepper can also help keep pets out of your garden and flower beds. Just like coffee grounds cats and dogs don't like the smell or the taste (especially Cayenne--OUCH) when licking their paws clean. So it's negative reinforcement for your pets. They quickly learn that going in your flower beds becomes an unpleasant experience.
Edited: Thanks Elizabeth for bringing this up - I wanted to mention that personally this has worked for me and Ben has not shown any signs of caffeine poisoning, but I would definitely check with your local vet - dogs can get sick from caffeine including coffee grounds (see Elizabeth's vet link in the comment section) just like they can if they eat enough chocolate. So check with your vet first if your concerned.
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Jessica - Thank You - Thank You! I did not know this - I have 7 cats - 4 I own and 3 that just showed up one day. They love to use my flower gardens and mulch beds - hey why can't they go a few more feet into the woods? You bet I will use this advice!