I can't guarantee that all cats will enjoy this garden. Some are finicky. Not all cats even like catnip, that well-known feline favorite. But some will. And the rest can simply sit back and gloat over all the other cats in the neighborhood, because only they will have a garden entirely devoted to them.
Of course you must start with the ones most likely to please. Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is actually a rather nice plant, and humans can enjoy it in a tea. Since the plants in my garden tend to get nipped, nibbled and rolled in, I plant them behind taller plants, somewhere at the back where they don't look too bedraggled.
On the other hand I plant catmint (Nepeta mussinii) at the front, where it's silvery leaves and almost perpetual froth of flowers make an excellent border for a bed. The variety called 'Blue Wonder' is a nice, compact plant that flowers in dark blue over much of the summer. 'Snowflake' flowers in white. Mine was perpetually mashed for years, as it was the favorite lolling place of my white cat, Olivia; her sister, Peabody preferred the catnip, where she rolled (and rocked) rather than lolled. N. faassenii 'Six Hills Giant' looks much like its smaller brethren, but is much taller, with flower spikes reaching 4'-5'; it is also sterile and won't spread about much. It will work well to hide the catnip.
The good thing about planting nepetas is that the cats will spend most of their time with them, leaving the rest of your garden alone. Another nice thing is that you will now have a garden of grey-greens which is a good, neutral backbone for your garden design.
At this point you have to choose directions. Is this to be a garden of cats, or is to to be a garden for the cats? Because if you want it to be a place where your cats can pretend they have found paradise, the nepetas are not your only options.
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