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Eupatorium background?

FireFire Posts: 19,096
in Problem solving
I'm plotting on putting eupatorium in and looking for some tips. My garden is besieged by slugs and snails and I'm very much hoping this plant will cope. I tried a crambe cordifolia in the same spot which was razed to the earth overnight. Thoughts welcome. Thanks
 


Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Some spirea look a bit like that but watch out, there are some vile,insidious varieties. One creeps under my fence from next door. But i have a nice one out the front. It never gets watered and the slugs aren't interested.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I'm thinking of E. ligustrinum. 'Vile, insidious varieties' of eupatorium?
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    No idea.
     I hated the spirea with a passion. It looked boring dull, matt green, then it would produce pointy Barbie pink fuzzy flowers for a fortnight. They would die and go brown and eventually it would go back to boring matt green but with brown dead blossom. 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    We had a real battle to establish our eupatorium.  First one got slugged instantly, but we learnt out lesson and second one was surrounded by major fortifications to protect it, nightly snail hunts, and so on.  But once we got it through it’s first year it was off and away.  Last year the clump was about 4 ft wide and 7 ft high - spectacular.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    @Helix, would you advise growing up in a pot first to get it very large enough to ward off slug attacks? My punk slugs are cheered by major fortifications. They treat them a chance to measure their PB times. I don't doubt they all sport the slug- equivalent of Fitbits. 'Chomp through the coffee grounds, swing over the gravel, dance over the eggshells'. Salt and electric fences are the only thing I have found to put them off.
  • PerkiPerki Posts: 2,527
    I didn't have any problems with slug attacks on my Eupatorium Purple Bush. Its a great background plant and the bees and butterfly's love it. I moved mine last year which caused it to sulk a little bit and with the dry weather it didn't get as tall as previous years. 




  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    I wouldn’t keep it in a pot as it needs to get its roots down.  If you have SAS trained slugs and snails then perhaps you need the last resort.... aluminium sulphate slug killer (the one that’s safe for wildlife).  I have a small pack we bought about 5 years ago, and only use in extremis.  If it gets to that stage I ring the plant with a cut down plastic bottle or ice cream carton and then a sprinkle of pellets.   
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I've ordered one to give it a go.
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