Today’s mission was to improve our pergola garden by creating an outdoor cat litter box that would provide our cats with what they need, whilst discouraging them from using the rest of the garden as their personal toilet. With two cats, it’s been a regular task to de-poo the garden, replace broken plants, and clean dirt splattered across the pavers.
It’s been on my to-do list for quite a while, and today’s beautiful spring weather finally gave me the motivation to make it happen. It may be that my brain is often thinking about badges, as several passed through my mind as I worked through the project. The first was Adulting is a Challenge that Deserves a Badge, as I was undertaking a job that I had been procrastinating about and putting off for ages. I’d already started the day by sweeping the floors and washing the dishes, and I had two loads of washing hanging on the line. I was feeling quite adult-like and deserving of a badge.
The first stage of my project was to dig out the section of the garden to dedicate to the litter box, basing my decision of the area they already used mostly for this purpose. To my surprise, this turned out to be an archeological dig – not for anything interesting, but for fossilised cat scat. Lots of it, buried under layers of dirt. I honestly could have made a scat rockery And while the Palaeontology badge initially came to mind, it was very quickly replaced by thoughts of the Just Disgusting badge. It really was gross. When we worked on that badge, we did a few activities that focused on animal poo. But none that involved the real thing. Disgusting!
With a bordered square hole in place, I consulted an expert by asking Chat-GPT for advice about an appropriate mix of components. We Did it Online sprung to mind as I thought about how easy it is seek and find random but useful information when needed. I had once asked a nursery salesperson about what to add to the garden to help break down cat poo, and she assured me that it would decompose naturally. My little archeological experience just disproved that particular theory.
So with my new-found knowledge about sand and lime, and after two trips to Bunnings, I created the Poo Patch. I repotted a selection of cat-friendly plants that included cat nip, cat grass, and cat mint, and surrounded the box. I then planted some marigold flowers for colour and scent, and made labels to identify the various plants – nicely tying in with the Scarecrows and Garden Gnomes badge.
The youngest cat, Mabel, was very curious from the start and supervised the whole process. She sat on the marigolds, chewed on the cat grass, walked through the cat mint, and balanced on the wooden frame – but wouldn’t touch the soil within. Just as I was getting a little concerned that the Poo Patch was destined to be a waste of time, it was actually used for it’s intended purpose.
Got to count that as a win.
Now to restore the rest of the garden to an area the rest of us can enjoy.
☑️ Adulting is a Challenge that Deserves a Badge
☑️ Palaeontology
☑️ Just Disgusting
☑️ We Did it Online
☑️ Scarecrows & Garden Gnomes
