#slugdamage

[fionagardens]

A few weeks ago, I bought some lovely pink polyanthus for this bowl. And a slug (or possibly a snail) ate every single flower. Every one. Despite a liberal dressing of slug pellets. So I scrapped that plan and replaced the polyanthus with cyclamen, which don’t seem to appeal to slugs.

[iplantsman]

The downside to Hostas. Not mine, but in a public park in Broughty Ferry, Fife. . #hosta #foliage #slug #snail #slugdamage #snaildamage #leaves #leaves #plants #broughtyferry #fife #scotland #parks (at Broughty Ferry Beach) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPq3AtAerI/?igshid=yrcdxa7m17yb

[fionagardens]

Look away now if you are squeamish. I do not have a live and let live approach to snails and slugs I am afraid. They scoff precious plants and we are at war. I have a multi pronged approach to them, I mulch with Strulch, which deters then to some extent. I put slug pellets around key plants (tradescantia and large flowered clematis in particular). Most importantly though, I look for them in the garden and permanently remove them - with a boot or salt... I think it’s worth knowing where these pests hang out in your garden and checking there periodically. Behind climbing plants on walls is a common place and under plants with an overhang - lifting up the catmint pictured here, revealed dozens of snails. Any plastic in the garden is other hiding place: in crevices of hose reels, and on bags of compost. They also come out at night and I have been known to prowl about after dark with a torch and pot of salt...

[fionagardens]

A lone tradescantia when the others have all gone over. Good hard cut back and they should come back for August. I have experimented with cutting back the whole plant and just the flower stems to see which is more successful. There’s every possibility I have too many of these - I think I’ve said that before. The flowers don’t pack a huge colour punch for the amount of leaves and the slugs are a bit too keen. I really like this one though so hopefully it will flourish.

[fionagardens]

Despite having had my garden for 18 years, I have only recently realised just how bold flowers need to be with a backdrop of a dry stone wall. Colour shows up much better with a background of foliage. I have put these perennial violas on two sides of a square, one with foliage backdrop and one with Cotswold stone wall. The violas are quite subtle but I think they just about make an impact - obviously better close up than from a distance. Perennial violas are very delicious to slugs, and don’t last more than a couple of years. Pretty though.

[fionagardens]

At the weekend I planted a new clematis. Its Mrs N Thompson, which will have purple flowers with a reddish stripe through the middle of the petals. It’s probably not precisely the clematis I would have chosen, but it was the most suitable for the spot of the clematis that Miserden Nursery had. The Nursery and Cafe at Miserden are very local to me, and are doing local deliveries during lockdown. I was replacing a clematis that I thought had died, as it failed to show up above the ground. However, when I dug the hole for the new one, I found the remnants of the old one’s roots and a little shoot - the white part at the top of the plant. I expect its new growth had been attacked by slugs. I have therefore carefully put it in a flowerpot of manure and slug pellets for some nurturing, to see if it rallies.