I've had a disaster with the milk filled 'slug pubs'.
I went out collecting slugs and snails late last night - only to discover every slug pub empty and dug up, and a trail of destruction - two foxgloves destroyed, a phlox in bits, and my beloved lupins trodden down.
And the culprit - my dog! The irony is the slugs would have done less damage.. Grrr!
Stepped out the back door early this morning to be greeted by a monster of a slug atleast 4inches long and the build of a Beef sausage. I stepped back inside reached for the salt cellar gave it a dusting and monster no more
Caral therein lies the problem. I have two dogs,one Border Terrier and a Black Lab.My lab can be very clumsy when she's charging about,in fact I'm sure she snapped off a Sunflower.Its very disheartening when we go to all this trouble protecting our plants.
Talking of which,one stem on a young Foxglove is half gnawed through and one leaf mostly eaten.I've now sprinkled salt but its raining again,perhaps I should sit down the garden and hold a 24 hour vigil.
Since time immemorial, there have been plants that are a wee bittie squiffy in our gardens. And since that time, we have learned to live with them, use them for our advantage, (Shakespeare !) and what's all the fuss about ?
Aconite, Horse chestnut, aloe, Deadly Nightshade, Celandine, Hemlock, Mushrooms and toadstools ad infinitum. Gawwwwd! the list goes on and on, but we grow up with them. Why introduce more fear and trembling into an already angst ridden society ?
If we get to be afraid of touching sniffing or approaching everything in the garden, we might as well go to bed and bring down the blinds !
Never mind, Peat B, we know which thread you meant.........
I put slugs and snails in a jar of salt water because I don't think raising the salinity of the soil is a good idea.
Someone asked what happens when plants flop over the copper ring? Yes, that can be a problem, but it happens seldom enough. Plus if you continue the nightly slug hunt and pick off any intrepid nasties, it's usually enough. Copper tape is reasonably priced, especially if you go to somewhere large like B&Q.
Sorry to hear about your disaster, Caral. I don't have any pets (children are enough) although last year one of the local cats dug up an iris rhizome I had transplanted to the front garden and killed it, so I do know how you feel. My garden seems to be a haven for all the cats in the street grrrrrrrrrr If only they ate slugs, I might not mind them so much.
Eternal vigilance is the key. You can never win completely against them, simply because there are so many and they never stop coming, but you can do enough to be able to grow the plants you want.
Just thinking ( Dangerous i know) was reading the neat n tidy thread just before i read this one, these slugs have to hide during the day, so if you have a lot of clutter and mess at the back of the shed, ( i'm sure i'm not the only one) then surely this is where we should concentrate our attack put nature friendly pellets down, slug pubs etc etc could even seal of the perimeter with copper tape if it's not to big an area, take the fight to them, get them before they get to your prized plants...
Do slugs & snails attack honeysuckles?.I only ask because there is evidence that this is occuring.The leaves have semi-circular pieces cut out of them,also the growing tips are damaged. At this point I must say that the honeysuckle is at least 6ft high and extends left & right by about 7ft.
I do go out at night armed with a torch but no luck so far. It must take these slimy creatures quite some time to travel up to the full height and back down again before daylight..
They also have a go at the florets when they appear. This happened last year and I must say it's very discouraging
Posts
I've had a disaster with the milk filled 'slug pubs'.
I went out collecting slugs and snails late last night - only to discover every slug pub empty and dug up, and a trail of destruction - two foxgloves destroyed, a phlox in bits, and my beloved lupins trodden down.
And the culprit - my dog! The irony is the slugs would have done less damage.. Grrr!
Stepped out the back door early this morning to be greeted by a monster of a slug atleast 4inches long and the build of a Beef sausage. I stepped back inside reached for the salt cellar gave it a dusting and monster no more
There is a 'saying' something like this..........
If Slug is white
It's all right.
If slug is black
Knock him back.
I don't know what you do with multi coloured slugs. Is there someone you reaally CANNOT bear . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
Ewwww. I hate the huge fat yellow ones, at least now I've stopped screaming everytime I see one.
Caral therein lies the problem. I have two dogs,one Border Terrier and a Black Lab.My lab can be very clumsy when she's charging about,in fact I'm sure she snapped off a Sunflower.Its very disheartening when we go to all this trouble protecting our plants.
Talking of which,one stem on a young Foxglove is half gnawed through and one leaf mostly eaten.I've now sprinkled salt but its raining again,perhaps I should sit down the garden and hold a 24 hour vigil.
Since time immemorial, there have been plants that are a wee bittie squiffy in our gardens. And since that time, we have learned to live with them, use them for our advantage, (Shakespeare !) and what's all the fuss about ?
Aconite, Horse chestnut, aloe, Deadly Nightshade, Celandine, Hemlock, Mushrooms and toadstools ad infinitum. Gawwwwd! the list goes on and on, but we grow up with them. Why introduce more fear and trembling into an already angst ridden society ?
If we get to be afraid of touching sniffing or approaching everything in the garden, we might as well go to bed and bring down the blinds !
Whoops, wrong thread !
Never mind, Peat B, we know which thread you meant.........
I put slugs and snails in a jar of salt water because I don't think raising the salinity of the soil is a good idea.
Someone asked what happens when plants flop over the copper ring? Yes, that can be a problem, but it happens seldom enough. Plus if you continue the nightly slug hunt and pick off any intrepid nasties, it's usually enough. Copper tape is reasonably priced, especially if you go to somewhere large like B&Q.
Sorry to hear about your disaster, Caral. I don't have any pets (children are enough) although last year one of the local cats dug up an iris rhizome I had transplanted to the front garden and killed it, so I do know how you feel. My garden seems to be a haven for all the cats in the street grrrrrrrrrr
If only they ate slugs, I might not mind them so much.
Eternal vigilance is the key. You can never win completely against them, simply because there are so many and they never stop coming, but you can do enough to be able to grow the plants you want.
Just thinking ( Dangerous i know) was reading the neat n tidy thread just before i read this one, these slugs have to hide during the day, so if you have a lot of clutter and mess at the back of the shed, ( i'm sure i'm not the only one) then surely this is where we should concentrate our attack put nature friendly pellets down, slug pubs etc etc could even seal of the perimeter with copper tape if it's not to big an area, take the fight to them, get them before they get to your prized plants...
Do slugs & snails attack honeysuckles?.I only ask because there is evidence that this is occuring.The leaves have semi-circular pieces cut out of them,also the growing tips are damaged. At this point I must say that the honeysuckle is at least 6ft high and extends left & right by about 7ft.
I do go out at night armed with a torch but no luck so far. It must take these slimy creatures quite some time to travel up to the full height and back down again before daylight..
They also have a go at the florets when they appear. This happened last year and I must say it's very discouraging