You don't want to "scamper in slippers" when you have dogs, not here anyway. We have 2, they leave their "leftovers" underneath the leaves, quite deliberately for anyone silly enough to venture out in anything other than washable backdoor shoes,......by the backdoor. I didn't read, that you felt forced into becoming a gardener. If you didn't want to "garden", presumably you wouldn't have moved there. On the subject..... nothing works, either plants that slugs don't like,or bucket of saline,and nightly jaunt. I do use beer traps on the veg plot.
There aren't any plants unattractive to slugs!!! It's a myth. Anyone can do anything they like with their gardens but slugs eat everything at some stage in its growth. I've got them and I know!
I think the problem is that you have those Spanish slugs @Posy. That isn't necessarily the case everywhere else . If the bog standard slugs were such a problem, no one would have any plants in their gardens at all.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I won't use slug pellets in the garden and prefer to encourage natural predators like birds and hedgehogs. If you have bigger plants then they can take some slug damage and still establish. We have really persistent slugs here that eat things they are supposed to dislike, like foxgloves, but I still have a couple of delphiniums because they are good sized plants that can cope with some damage but still have enough growth to outpace them.
The Ferric based pellets are effective and less damaging than the older metaldehyde pellets, but I would still try and minimise the use of them. Applying them early in the season will probably maximise their effectiveness on controlling the slug population. Spread them out thinly so they are less likely to be directly eaten by dogs and wildlife. Some plants are less delicious to slugs and snails, so I would gradually plant those to replace the more susceptible ones.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
@Posy on a more serious note, do you know how your Spanish slugs arrived in the IofW ? I'm assuming import of infected plants ? When did you first notice them as being a problem ? Not sure how much plant life IoW exports but does the responsible authority have any regs in place to avoid the spread? Luckily no sight of them in my locality tho I have a feeling other mainland posters have mentioned them becoming a problem. Can't recall the areas tho. Best of luck with the hunting and snipping
There's little doubt they came in on imported plants, probably from southern Europe, their true home, but to the Island via England. Everything here comes into and out of the mainland.
I garden on heavy, wet clay, so slugs are always a problem and it is difficult to pinpoint a time because I was totally unaware of their existence. First I noticed an alarming increase in slug damage, then a change in its nature. Spanish slugs are active all year, they eat almost everything, love flowers and tend to operate in groups, eating every inch of a plant before moving on. If you find one on a plant, you are likely to find between ten and thirty more, sometimes covering every inch, climbing over each other to get a bite.
When did it start? Ten to fifteen years ago, I think, but perhaps it just seems a long time! I tried every method of control, including pellets, without any appreciable difference, and reached a point close to despair.
Eventually, I gave in and started picking them off. The first year there were thousands. Truly, the garden was covered in them. Now they are under control. I still need to collect them up, especially the babies, before they breed, but I can grow plants again and have a garden.
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“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
If the bog standard slugs were such a problem, no one would have any plants in their gardens at all.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you have bigger plants then they can take some slug damage and still establish. We have really persistent slugs here that eat things they are supposed to dislike, like foxgloves, but I still have a couple of delphiniums because they are good sized plants that can cope with some damage but still have enough growth to outpace them.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Posy on a more serious note, do you know how your Spanish slugs arrived in the IofW ? I'm assuming import of infected plants ? When did you first notice them as being a problem ? Not sure how much plant life IoW exports but does the responsible authority have any regs in place to avoid the spread?
Luckily no sight of them in my locality tho I have a feeling other mainland posters have mentioned them becoming a problem. Can't recall the areas tho.
Best of luck with the hunting and snipping
I garden on heavy, wet clay, so slugs are always a problem and it is difficult to pinpoint a time because I was totally unaware of their existence. First I noticed an alarming increase in slug damage, then a change in its nature. Spanish slugs are active all year, they eat almost everything, love flowers and tend to operate in groups, eating every inch of a plant before moving on. If you find one on a plant, you are likely to find between ten and thirty more, sometimes covering every inch, climbing over each other to get a bite.
When did it start? Ten to fifteen years ago, I think, but perhaps it just seems a long time! I tried every method of control, including pellets, without any appreciable difference, and reached a point close to despair.
Eventually, I gave in and started picking them off. The first year there were thousands. Truly, the garden was covered in them. Now they are under control. I still need to collect them up, especially the babies, before they breed, but I can grow plants again and have a garden.