Great piece. I agree with everything you say, especially filling your garden with so many plants you can't see damage and reducing slug habitat around the most vulnerable veg plants. Plus, of course, no pesticides. How I long to see their sale banned to the general public. I used to work in a garden centre - so depressing though occasionally I did manage to dissuade people from purchasing them.
I enjoyed your article very much. The photos of summer flowers lifted my heart (I’m currently above the tree-line in the mountains). Re planting densely to camouflage the damage - I’m all for that, but in my ‘garden’ (a high balcony), dead pansies and forget-me-nots in February are a bit depressing. I don’t have birdlife to help tip the balance. Thrushes visited me once, but only to steal nesting material. Wrens used to come when I still had an overgrown trachelospermum, but I suspect that slugs and snails didn’t interest them. Other plants survive the attacks, which for me are mostly from slugs. Polyanthus and over-wintering nicotiana seedlings sometimes look sad, but continue to do their thing. On a slightly different tack, I used to be made miserable each spring by really early (Feb) greenfly infestations. Early shoots of centranthus were completely consumed. But they too recover. I ignore greenfly (as if there’s any option - I wouldn’t treat against them) and within a few weeks they are all gone. I put that down to applying your principles within my restricted limitations - planting densely and diversely.
Re Catherine Blackwood’s comments - yes, it shocks me when I see what people buy in garden centres. And with the bunching up of spring bank holidays just round the corner, watch out for all the tv ads for the most dreadfully noxious things which we are encouraged to apply in abundance.
Even on veg I try not to worry about the odd nibble and think of it as sharing food! If I spot an especially audacious snail it gets gently transferred to the compost corner. I didn't know that they each had different favourite foods until today, so will bear those predilictions in mind in future. Thank you!
I have recently found a really good slug and snail deterrent called PlantGrow Slug and Snail. Apparently it's made of the waste left after crushing olives. You just build a ring of it around the plants you want to protect and I've found it absolutely works, and isn't affected by rain. I'm delighted with it but it's quite expensive - wish I could just go over to some olive-growing country and bring home a truckload!
Thank you! I have an influx every year of armies of snails who eat absolutely everything, even the non-snail-friendly plants, I'll try implementing these tips in spring, wish me luck!
I've just been out with a torch and gathered mainly slugs from daffodils in tubs and that I planted in grass. I relocated them, don't know how quickly they can get back. None of the daffs in the grass have flowered, I thought it was deer, but it was the munching molluscs. I'm going to try coffee grounds to deter them.
Great piece. I agree with everything you say, especially filling your garden with so many plants you can't see damage and reducing slug habitat around the most vulnerable veg plants. Plus, of course, no pesticides. How I long to see their sale banned to the general public. I used to work in a garden centre - so depressing though occasionally I did manage to dissuade people from purchasing them.
I enjoyed your article very much. The photos of summer flowers lifted my heart (I’m currently above the tree-line in the mountains). Re planting densely to camouflage the damage - I’m all for that, but in my ‘garden’ (a high balcony), dead pansies and forget-me-nots in February are a bit depressing. I don’t have birdlife to help tip the balance. Thrushes visited me once, but only to steal nesting material. Wrens used to come when I still had an overgrown trachelospermum, but I suspect that slugs and snails didn’t interest them. Other plants survive the attacks, which for me are mostly from slugs. Polyanthus and over-wintering nicotiana seedlings sometimes look sad, but continue to do their thing. On a slightly different tack, I used to be made miserable each spring by really early (Feb) greenfly infestations. Early shoots of centranthus were completely consumed. But they too recover. I ignore greenfly (as if there’s any option - I wouldn’t treat against them) and within a few weeks they are all gone. I put that down to applying your principles within my restricted limitations - planting densely and diversely.
Re Catherine Blackwood’s comments - yes, it shocks me when I see what people buy in garden centres. And with the bunching up of spring bank holidays just round the corner, watch out for all the tv ads for the most dreadfully noxious things which we are encouraged to apply in abundance.
Even on veg I try not to worry about the odd nibble and think of it as sharing food! If I spot an especially audacious snail it gets gently transferred to the compost corner. I didn't know that they each had different favourite foods until today, so will bear those predilictions in mind in future. Thank you!
Have you ever seen a banana slug? These are California slugs that grow to be about 6” long and an inch wide. Truly magnificent.
I have recently found a really good slug and snail deterrent called PlantGrow Slug and Snail. Apparently it's made of the waste left after crushing olives. You just build a ring of it around the plants you want to protect and I've found it absolutely works, and isn't affected by rain. I'm delighted with it but it's quite expensive - wish I could just go over to some olive-growing country and bring home a truckload!
Thank you! I have an influx every year of armies of snails who eat absolutely everything, even the non-snail-friendly plants, I'll try implementing these tips in spring, wish me luck!
I've just been out with a torch and gathered mainly slugs from daffodils in tubs and that I planted in grass. I relocated them, don't know how quickly they can get back. None of the daffs in the grass have flowered, I thought it was deer, but it was the munching molluscs. I'm going to try coffee grounds to deter them.