ChatterBank4 mins ago
Whats eating my Hostas.....
Morning, well as above really! They have only just started to re-emerge and have been eaten already. They are in a raised bed that I have just given a 3 inch coating of bark chipping..... will a ring of salt around them work?
Lisa x
Lisa x
Answers
Sandy, we have a local radio presenter on the Beeb, whose hobby is teaching slugs and snails to fly! I wouldn't want to be his neighbour ...
08:58 Sat 21st Apr 2012
I used to go round the garden at night with a large coffe jar loaded with a tbsp of salt, the old silver sugar snips and a torch. Filled the jar every night, screwed the lid back on and dumped it in the dustbin. It took ages to get the populace down to a more controlled level, Lisa, but it worked for me. Never throw away any egg shells now - they are free and harmless to the environment. The cartons are great, torn up, for the compost heap, too :)
As good as egg shells and a lot easier to come by (have you calculated how many eggs it would take for just one hosta?) is common shapr sand... the kind used for the kids sand boxes. Just scrape away the bark chips down to bare earth and circle each plant with a ring perhaps 2 inches wide of the sand... it only needs to be 1/2 inch deep or so.
After that then bury a few of the cheap plastic dishes one uses for picnics in the ground. The little bowls have a lip on them so bury them just deep enough for that lip to be flat on the ground. Pour in an inch or so of cheap beer (don't waste the Guiness)... the smell attracts the slugs, they crawl in and don't come out (but at least they expire happy). Refill as required...
After that then bury a few of the cheap plastic dishes one uses for picnics in the ground. The little bowls have a lip on them so bury them just deep enough for that lip to be flat on the ground. Pour in an inch or so of cheap beer (don't waste the Guiness)... the smell attracts the slugs, they crawl in and don't come out (but at least they expire happy). Refill as required...
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