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Same old story
Fishy65
Posts: 2,276
As ever slugs and snails have begun their campaign of destruction in my garden. Young delphiniums chewed, field scabious tatty, 'jack go to bed at noon' badly mauled. Note to self - must not put plants in the garden!!
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I spot treat the vulnerable with slug clear. Not environmentally perfect but it works and I'd rather see a delphinium and bugger the slugs! They do have a sacrificial patch in a corner though, so I don't hate them completely.
i go out twice a night collecting them and putting them in the green bin, so far haven't lost a young plant 'yet' i havn't to acres to scour but i get a fair few a night, if i don't get/see them on 1st torchlight hunt i normally get them on the 2nd
p.s on really young or small plants i cover them in a cloche at night made from cutting off the bottom of 2lt plastic bottles or better still 5ltr ones if i can get them and dig them in a little, if it is windy i stick a bamboo cane in them so they don't blow away.
Hi there I'm new to this squishing lark! Used to just throw them towards birdfood corner but have started stomping and squishing since many loses of young seedlings which is especially discouraging as I'm a new gardener!
Sanjy, could you please tell me what you think is the best time to patrol? I just went out but only found 1!
I do what a hosta grower advised when she and her nursery were featured in Malvern show coverage a few years ago.
Staring on Feb 14th - because it's an easy date to remember - thin scatterings of wildlife friendly slug pellets around all susceptible plants so hostas, clems, daffs, hemerocallis, new veg and salad seedlings and so on. Repeat at regular intervals and after heavy rain until late spring/early summer.
This system gets the perishers as they emerge from hibernation or hatch from eggs and before they can feed and breed. Easy to remember, easy to do. No harm to wildlife. Some slugs left to feed frogs and toads. Much less bovver than picking after dark which is what I used to do before the new slug pellets were available.
I've seen more snails than slugs this year and my newly planted yummy clematis are sealed up better than Fort Knox
I saw the ends off their pots which get sunk in the ground, back filled with grit and pelleted. I also use copper tape around the top edge. Most hostas are in pots or raised beds that get the same treatment.
This year I've only has three Clematis suffer from an almighty chewing although the hostas left in the ground are already pebble-dashed
so I will build more raised beds next year
Most perennials have been okay although I don't grow delphiniums or dahlias because of this issue, luckily I don't miss them in my garden.
Some of my salvias got nibbled early on but I managed to save them in time and will collar them next year with a sunken pot each and gravel. The rims will get lost under the foliage by mid summer and hopefully I'll get my blooms
when it's dark, i normally go out about 10pm in my pj's mainly for a shmoke
but i multitask in snail hunting too, my tools are a torch, coffee spoon (for scooping them up & compost scoop for carrying them around then i tip them in the green bin. i usually go out again about 11/11.30pm, if it's raining that is when you will really find them on the rampage.
I know they are only doing what comes naturally, but when you grow plants from seed, nurture them with your time and attention...only to see them being destroyed over just a few nights...I think 'what was the point?' Well clearly, the whole point was to feed slugs and snails. And where are all the song thrushes?? There's a banquet laid on for them here but haven't seen one in our garden for what must be years now. Lots of blackbirds but they seem to prefer worms.
Ah excellent Sanjy! I have all the equipment needed! Including the ciggies!
OK starting tomorrow evening slug and snail squishing patrol is on!!!! 
thanks ever so for the tip!