Green fingered help

[Missy D]

Slugs and snail help they are everwhere. I have heard from people to put egg shell down but reckon i would need to invest in a dozen hens first as have so many. I have a cat so not sure about pellets.

[jivecat]

Slugs and snail help they are everwhere. I have heard from people to put egg shell down but reckon i would need to invest in a dozen hens first as have so many. I have a cat so not sure about pellets.

I use pellets, mainly in Spring, and they don't seem to have affected the neighbour's cat who is a frequent visitor. I don't notice any dead birds/hedgehogs lying around so the argument that the pellets get into the food chain hasn't convinced me yet. I think you can buy pet-safe ones but not sure if they actually work to kill the slugs.

[Gojive]

Slugs and snail help they are everwhere. I have heard from people to put egg shell down but reckon i would need to invest in a dozen hens first as have so many. I have a cat so not sure about pellets.

I had a mammoth battle with the little (and not so little) black shysters last year . The only surefire way I found, was to adopt a multi-pronged attack (no, I don't mean stab them with a fork ...although.....).

So what I ended up doing, was surrounding each new plant with a 'collar' made by cutting the bottom off a plastic lemonade bottle, then cutting a zig-zag jagged edge around the top of it. Around this, I then placed used coffee grounds, egg shells, and bbq ash.

I also put down beer traps, and lemon/orange peel traps. Finally, I went out every night around 12am (in all weathers, much to my neighbours amusement) and hand picked any I found loitering with intent, and gave them a free swimming lesson in the Thames .

This year I scrapped all of that and went for pet friendly pellets (although the slugs were never my pets in the first place, but hey ho!). So far, I seem to have pretty much wiped them out!

[Stuart]

Slugs and snail help they are everwhere. I have heard from people to put egg shell down but reckon i would need to invest in a dozen hens first as have so many. I have a cat so not sure about pellets.

Have you tried using coffee grounds? I read that this is supposed to deter slugs. I mixed some in with the compost when I planted my salad plants (in a container) and I haven't had any trouble.

Starbucks usually give away bags of used coffee grounds.

Alternatively, if your plats are in a container, copper tape wrapped around the container will deter slugs.

[jivecat]

A lot of slug activity depends on the season and the weather. They're at their worst in April when the weather is damp, the slugs are hungry and shoots are small and delicate. Once you get through to June the soil is usually too dry for slugs to travel easily and plants are big enough to withstand them anyway. So I think it's worth using pellets just for the few months that they are really needed. I wouldn't risk my precious plants by using a folk remedy that may or may not work.

[Astro]

Slugs and snail help they are everwhere. I have heard from people to put egg shell down but reckon i would need to invest in a dozen hens first as have so many. I have a cat so not sure about pellets.

I don't have many slugs, but loads of snails.

My snails are very intelligent - but now i know all their hiding places.

Beer is supposed to deter either slugs or snails or both - can't remember.

Shame you're not working at Ashtons anymore, Missy D.

You could have got lots of free beer from the slop trays for the slugs.

[dee]

Slugs and snail help they are everwhere. I have heard from people to put egg shell down but reckon i would need to invest in a dozen hens first as have so many. I have a cat so not sure about pellets.

Hey sis thought you hated the cat

Best idea is to come to me at the weekend and we sneak into the local Tiggywinkles and borrow some hedgehogs, perfect!! and they will eat any cat food you have along with the snails, you never know they may be fat enough by christmas

[Astro]

Finally, I went out every night around 12am (in all weathers, much to my neighbours amusement) and hand picked any I found loitering with intent,

This is what the profesionals do.

Did you need a powerful torch?

This year I scrapped all of that and went for pet friendly pellets (although the slugs were never my pets in the first place, but hey ho!). So far, I seem to have pretty much wiped them out!

I have seen hardly any slugs in my garden,(touch wood) but have armies of snails.

The more I get rid of the more a find.

Oh, and you can't eat them, they are poisonous.

The ones they have in French restaurants are specially reared. - not that I have tried any.

[Gav]

First time for everything We expect before/after garden pics.

Well we don't have the start pics because I didn't think to take any before the row of conifers were removed. Look at the pics below and imagine a row of conifers at the back and huge bushes and tons of bramble covering everything else.

[Gav]

First time for everything We expect before/after garden pics.

In progress...

[Gav]

First time for everything We expect before/after garden pics.

Decking finished and one small part of the garden planted, only the rest to do now...

[martingold]

very nice decking gav
i like the stair lights

[Gojive]

blah blah hand pick at night blah blah

This is what the profesionals do.

Did you need a powerful torch?

Yeah! So I'm now a pro

As for the torch?...no, I use my fingers . No, just one of those led wind-up torches was enough .

Well the growing season is coming to a close, and I've been practically slug free . I've noticed one or two in the last few days though, now that the wet weather is returning with a vengence.

I've read of a few more ways to deter slugs:

Wipe out all traces of slime as you see it - apparently, slugs will follow their mate's slime to get to their booty.

Apply a barrier around the base of the plant, using human or pet hair (if you're bald and don't have a pet, try begging at the Barber's door )

[Gojive]

Decking finished and one small part of the garden planted, only the rest to do now...

Looks absolutely stunning Gav!

One question though....there doesn't look to be too much room to dance?...there's a lot of wasted 'green' space though I see

[Gav]

Looks absolutely stunning Gav!

One question though....there doesn't look to be too much room to dance?...there's a lot of wasted 'green' space though I see

That's the 'rest and barbecue' area, the outdoor dancefloor project comes next.

[Keefy]

Houseplant "What Am I?"

I will turn to the infinite wisdom of the forums for this These three have beaten me, all cheap "foliage plants" from the DIY stores. I don't know what they are and the books haven't helped. So...

Left : OK, it's a Bromeliad of some description, but which one? It's a young plant as you can see, non variegated leaves, it hasn't flowered yet so no clues there. Is it a young Urn Plant?

Middle : Now this one is really confusing me! I'm treating it as a cane palm of some type, the leaves rise like closed fans (there's one in the middle) and then unfold.

Right : Another cane palm, or is it a sedge? Very narrow leaves for a palm but it has the slightly reddish canes, most of the sedges seem to be variegated but this one isn't.

Any help on one or more greatly appreciated

[Astro]

No I haven't a clue!

Help the birds this winter by not tidying up your leaves etc. This will help them keep warm.

Not often we are advised to be lazy in the garden by the proffesionals.

I didn't even dead head this year.

[Gav]

Time to resurrect this thread cos I need help again.

I have a few Hydrangea bushes in the front garden, which flourish every year.
This year I noticed an odd while sticky stuff growing all over them and also, the flowers are much smaller than usual (may not be related?).
I can't tell if this is a fungus or an insect of some kind? It looks like an insect, but I've never seen them move (even when poked) and they seem too squishy .

I've had a quick google and nothing looks quite the same.

Pictures of the varmints and the small flowers below. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Magic Hans]

Time to resurrect this thread cos I need help again.

I have a few Hydrangea bushes in the front garden, which flourish every year.
This year I noticed an odd while sticky stuff growing all over them and also, the flowers are much smaller than usual (may not be related?).
I can't tell if this is a fungus or an insect of some kind? It looks like an insect, but I've never seen them move (even when poked) and they seem too squishy .

I've had a quick google and nothing looks quite the same.

Pictures of the varmints and the small flowers below. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


If they are kind of frothy, then it would be hover fly larvae, other known as cuckoo spit.


For Slugs/snail .... potted planted can be protected with sticky copper tape, and, if you have any chicken available ... they'll pick your garden clean of slugs and snails. They just love'em! Oh ... and there is an idea to hoe regularly ... especially in early spring. This will disturb and expose any eggs, which can then be picked up by any predators or parasites.

For rhubarb ... really good idea to only pick the leaves until August or earlier. After that the leaves will feed back into the roots for next year

[Gav]

If they are kind of frothy, then it would be hover fly larvae, other known as cuckoo spit.

Nope, nothing like that.

I just found something on the RHS website. It seems it's Hydrangea Scale? Apparently I have 2 choices:
1. Find the pesticide they recommend and spray in mid-July.
2. Dig up and burn the bushes and plant new ones in the Autumn.

Guess I'll start looking for the pesticides then...