Dealing with Slugs in the Garden

By

Lee Bestall
Garden Care
29th June 2017

Holes in your Hostas, nibbles out of your lettuce leaves and trails on your patio.  Sound familiar? 

The rains of late have brought our the dreaded slugs and snails en-masse, and getting rid of them is a real challenge.  Some people like to go out at night with a torch and a jar (not for me), some like to surround their pots with petroleum jelly (too messy), some like to sprinkle oats around their plants (better in flapjack) and some like to share a little of their beer (go on then, just a little).  What ever you try, slugs and snails are persistent little things, and without resorting to slug killer (which is not great for our wildlife) i'd rather put up with the holes, or grow something else. 

 

 

DEALING WITH SLUGS

Hosta

This week I am trying out the slug traps, and after just one night, I can confirm they seem to be working.  Yes, I know its a waste of beer, but they only need a few of the dregs! 

Slug Trap

Slug Trap

Other things you can be getting on with this week include, washing green fly off your lettuce (and other soft leaved edibles), harvesting mini turnips like the ones we sowed about 8 weeks ago, cutting your Spinach on a regular basis, dead heading bedding and perennials and a summer feed on the lawn.

This weekend sunshine has been most welcome and hopefully you got some time to enjoy it.  I was out till late last night pottering around in the garden, dead heading and pulling up the odd weed seedling.  I also sowed some Fox Gloves and Spinach in trays and placed them in the propagation house to germinate.

Happy gardening!

Lee 'The Gardener'

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Rekha Mistry

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