Toothpaste, Kombucha, and a new herb garden.

[ORChick]

ORC, will you marry me? (just kidding!) I've been looking for a way to keep catnip without it getting killed by the cats for YEARS! I had a fantastic plant, big and healthy till they got the word out, and suddenly it's gone, dead, chewed to stump.

I have new hope now.

Awww, this is so sudden! But I'm a modern sort of gal, couldn't we live together for awhile first?
Quite seriously, I have a good friend, whom I haven't seen in eons, in Sydney, and HAD a good friend in Tasmania (who has recently returned to California as her return *home* after many, many years in the U.S. just didn't work out). It is definitely on my travel calendar to visit Australia in the next year or two. I've been told (by my friend in Sydney) that Tasmania is too far away to consider; but I would have gone for the other friend, maybe I'll get down there anyway ... and then I could admire your catnip! Just 2 ex-pat California girls together
BTW, a bit of geographical research shows that where I live now is on the same latitude (though north rather than south) as Hobart.

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[Marianne]

Years ago I put a fence ring around my catnip, no top, and it worked fine. The cats nibbled on what grew through the fencing but no one tried to jump in the middle. The ring was probably only a foot or so across, and maybe 18" tall. I usually had cats laying next to it.
Out here, the catnip that I had growing in pots sure didn't last long. Even after the plants were long gone, the cats would still lay in the pots. Then after the neighbor caught 5 bobcats on his camera running the creek behind us, I decided that I really didn't need catnip. I was surprised that big cats like it too and can pick up the scent from a long ways off.

I used just baking soda, sometimes with 1/4 salt, for toothpaste. Worked really good, but eventually my teeth got so sensitive that now I have to use a toothpaste for sensitive teeth. I just started it, so don't know how long I'll have to use it. Sigh. Also, rinsing with peroxide a few years ago, caused a weird reaction in my mouth. My dentist advised me not to use it as it kills good bacteria as well as bad. But many people do it without any problems.
I did try peppermint one time and cinnamon, too. But plain ol' baking soda did the trick, so eventually that's all I used.