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Spring Slug/Snail Patrol; Worth ir?
beddy
Posts: 3
As I write it is March 21st and I am in a fairly mild part of the country.
Night has fallen and as I look out the window at my little urban garden, I see a handful of slugs and snails boldly breaking cover. They've been appearing for the last week, big ones and baby ones.
Said garden is currently almost entirely bare; They'll find no joy for the moment. Soon however I will be providing them with lots and lots of tasty vegetables to destroy.
I just don't have it in me to kill them - They're little sh*ts, but they're just living their little lives the best they can. Poison is simply not an option (not willing to risk harm to to the broader ecosystem), and targeted killing (picking them up and boiling, freezing, squishing, etc.) just isn't for me.
So I'm pinning my hopes on plant covers, wool pellets, and transportation. Which brings me to my question.
Is it really worth my while to head out into the damp March night with my torch and zeal, to pluck up every slug and snail I see, and to transplant them up to the nearest park?
Do diligent attempts at ridding oneself of the Spring vanguard actually help avoid the main onslaught during Summer? Or should I just leave them be until there are plants and foliage out there for me to actively defend?
I've made a few such forays already, but my feeling is that the effort may be futile and that the only time transportation is really effective is in Autumn when the fat little feckers are feeling broody and are preparing to lay next year's babies.
Is it a waste of time to head out right now, or will I feel the benefit in a few weeks/months time?
Night has fallen and as I look out the window at my little urban garden, I see a handful of slugs and snails boldly breaking cover. They've been appearing for the last week, big ones and baby ones.
Said garden is currently almost entirely bare; They'll find no joy for the moment. Soon however I will be providing them with lots and lots of tasty vegetables to destroy.
I just don't have it in me to kill them - They're little sh*ts, but they're just living their little lives the best they can. Poison is simply not an option (not willing to risk harm to to the broader ecosystem), and targeted killing (picking them up and boiling, freezing, squishing, etc.) just isn't for me.
So I'm pinning my hopes on plant covers, wool pellets, and transportation. Which brings me to my question.
Is it really worth my while to head out into the damp March night with my torch and zeal, to pluck up every slug and snail I see, and to transplant them up to the nearest park?
Do diligent attempts at ridding oneself of the Spring vanguard actually help avoid the main onslaught during Summer? Or should I just leave them be until there are plants and foliage out there for me to actively defend?
I've made a few such forays already, but my feeling is that the effort may be futile and that the only time transportation is really effective is in Autumn when the fat little feckers are feeling broody and are preparing to lay next year's babies.
Is it a waste of time to head out right now, or will I feel the benefit in a few weeks/months time?
0
Posts
How illogical is that?
I no longer use slug pellets, because I'm concerned the birds will eat the dead slugs/snails. I do put copper tape round most of my pots, and broken eggshell around many of my plants. However, in order to have enough eggshell to keep away ALL slugs and snails, I'd get constipation!!
I use a few slug pellets on very susceptible plants as they emerge. The key is 'a few'. More than that is too many.
Many people use the beer traps to good effect. I don't do it for a reason, but that might be worth trying.
I don't find eggshells to be effective at all @rowlandscastle444 Our houses have a crushed shell finish - doesn't stop them climbing them.
I often find very large snails hiding in trellis, or in the phormiums, although not this year as they're all dead. Every cloud...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I guess I'll ease up and just do it whenever I have a bumper crop of them to harvest and transplant.
I've read that beer traps are a really bad idea and just turn your garden into Slug Glastonbury so I'm not going to risk that.
We'll see what happens. As the years progress I may lose my magnanimous attitude towards them and become more aggressive.
You don't mention hedgehogs or blackbirds/thrushes. Much overated in my experience. Transportation has been proved not to work. Snails especially have keen homing instincts. Slug pellets and beer just attract more into your garden. King Charles has a staff.
But a nice bit of prose.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."