When I had this problem in my last garden with snails eat my clematis (and it was definitely snails as I'd find them in the morning, sitting happily replete in the branches of my montana and snoozing, waiting for the evening to strip more bark from its branches) apart from picking them from the clematis in the morning and .....
I bought loads of coarse grit and mulched a large area around the clematis stems with it. It seemed to deter the little blighters a bit.
I agree with Welshonion, I do not use slug pellets, whether they're supposed to be "wildlife friendly" or not.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Wildlife friendlypellets do not harm anything except slugs and snails. Any surplus breaks down into the soil to make a harmless iron compound whereas metaldehyde based pellets kill or make ill all sortsof other creatures.
I'm not suggesting blanket pelleting so there will be plenty of slugs and snails left over in other parts of the garden to feed hedgehogs and thrushes. Recent studies indicate that hedgehogs don't actually eat that many slugs anyway.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
in one raised herb bed last week i removed 57 assorted slugs of every kind, understanding that lots off wildlife is now kipping i went into the hedghog info on the net only to find hedghogs only eat slugs if they are starving,cant say i blame them for that ? but if thats the case do birds actually eat slugs as slugs cant move very fast they are so easy for the birds to catch but i hav,nt seen this ,Snails yes most deffinatly ,the birds up the allotment actually wait for me to throw them the snails i remove from the beds, slugs im not sure ? so what do slugs actually do ,they must have a reason to be there i suppose, wish i new what and valentines day now has altogether a new meaning to me
Slugs are good at processing dead vegetative matter and breaking it down as part of the cycle of growth, death and recycling. Unfortunately they also have gourmet appetities for some of our treasures so need to be controlled in some parts of the garden.
Apparently ducks like slugs but you'd have to have apond for them and also be prepared for all their mess so best, in my opinion, to live with slugs but manage them where you need to.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Any ideas why my 10 year old Montana has died? It grew lots of green tendrils this year and was about to flower when it suddenly died. The stems at the bottom of the plant had a black centre , and fell apart on inspection.There were no signs of any munching from snails or slugs.
Posts
When I had this problem in my last garden with snails eat my clematis (and it was definitely snails as I'd find them in the morning, sitting happily replete in the branches of my montana and snoozing, waiting for the evening to strip more bark from its branches) apart from picking them from the clematis in the morning and .....
I bought loads of coarse grit and mulched a large area around the clematis stems with it. It seemed to deter the little blighters a bit.
I agree with Welshonion, I do not use slug pellets, whether they're supposed to be "wildlife friendly" or not.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Wildlife friendlypellets do not harm anything except slugs and snails. Any surplus breaks down into the soil to make a harmless iron compound whereas metaldehyde based pellets kill or make ill all sortsof other creatures.
I'm not suggesting blanket pelleting so there will be plenty of slugs and snails left over in other parts of the garden to feed hedgehogs and thrushes. Recent studies indicate that hedgehogs don't actually eat that many slugs anyway.
Thankyou obelixx I will try the pellets.
in one raised herb bed last week i removed 57 assorted slugs of every kind, understanding that lots off wildlife is now kipping i went into the hedghog info on the net only to find hedghogs only eat slugs if they are starving,cant say i blame them for that ? but if thats the case do birds actually eat slugs as slugs cant move very fast they are so easy for the birds to catch but i hav,nt seen this ,Snails yes most deffinatly ,the birds up the allotment actually wait for me to throw them the snails i remove from the beds, slugs im not sure ? so what do slugs actually do ,they must have a reason to be there i suppose, wish i new what and valentines day now has altogether a new meaning to me
good luck all Alan4711
Big slugs eat little slugs
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Slugs are good at processing dead vegetative matter and breaking it down as part of the cycle of growth, death and recycling. Unfortunately they also have gourmet appetities for some of our treasures so need to be controlled in some parts of the garden.
Apparently ducks like slugs but you'd have to have apond for them and also be prepared for all their mess so best, in my opinion, to live with slugs but manage them where you need to.
Any ideas why my 10 year old Montana has died? It grew lots of green tendrils this year and was about to flower when it suddenly died. The stems at the bottom of the plant had a black centre , and fell apart on inspection.There were no signs of any munching from snails or slugs.