Easy way to keep cats from digging up your plants

All of my neighbors have cats, and since we do not, our yard is the free territory that they all fight over. And when I get my gardens ready for planting seeds at the beginning of the season, I'm sure that my raised beds look like huge upscale litter boxes with the cats' names written all over them. There is nothing quite as frustrating as finding groups of cat potholes in a freshly planted seedbed. Even plants bought in six-packs don't stand a chance against a cat excavation.

After lots of different experiments, I have found a simple way that works really well! And it uses supplies that you probably already have sitting around your garden shed.

Simply take metal garden edging and lay it down flat over the soil. The seeds will grow up through the wide holes and the metal is too annoying for the cats to try to dig around.

 I already had some on hand from various gardening projects, and then I found some more marked 90% off at Hobby Lobby when they clearanced out the spring section. Love it when that happens! 

If you have a larger area to cover, cucumber trellises work really well. This wire trellis is just the right size for my raised beds.

As you can see, the plants simply grow up through the holes. Just remember to pull the trellis up before the plants get too big, or it will be stuck there until it is time to pull the plants up.

You can also use chicken wire that has wider holes. I have been using this method for a while now, and the cats will literally dig in the ONE SPOT that I don't cover. But all of my little seedlings come up right where they should :)

Do you have any other tips and tricks for keeping out the cats?