DIY toy guide
Indoor Cat-Grass Garden
Grow a safe, nibble-anytime patch of greens on your windowsill
Many cats crave grass to nibble, and growing your own indoor tray of oat, wheat or barley grass gives them a safe, pesticide-free outlet — and keeps their teeth off houseplants, some of which are toxic.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 10 minutes to plant, 1–2 weeks to grow
- Cost
- Low
🧺 You will need
- A shallow, wide tray or sturdy bowl
- Cat-grass seed — oat, wheat, barley or rye, sold as 'cat grass'
- Fresh potting compost with no added fertiliser or chemicals
- A spray bottle of water
- A bright windowsill
🔧 How to make it
- Fill the tray with a couple of inches of plain compost and firm it down gently.
- Scatter the cat-grass seed generously across the surface so it grows in a thick little lawn.
- Cover the seed with a thin layer of compost and mist the top until evenly damp.
- Keep the tray somewhere warm and bright, misting daily so the surface never dries out.
- Once the blades reach a few inches — usually within a week or two — set the tray where your cat can reach it and let them graze.
💡 Tips
- Sow a second tray a week after the first so you always have a fresh patch ready as the old one is nibbled down.
- If your cat gorges and then brings the grass straight back up, offer only short supervised access at first.
Safety: Use only seed and compost sold as pet-safe, with no added fertiliser, pesticide or water-retaining gels. 'Cat grass' is not the same as spider plants or ornamental grasses, and it is never a substitute for keeping genuinely toxic houseplants such as lilies out of the home entirely.
📝 Notes
Nibbling grass is normal feline behaviour that may aid digestion and help bring up hairballs. A dedicated indoor garden satisfies the urge safely and protects your other plants from curious teeth.
