The slugs (and snails) have decimated my garden this year. They ate 3 of the 6 plants I bought for my new rockery,
the flowers and then the leaves from the red and white dahlia I bought, most of my salad leaves, some of my radishes, the tops of all my carrots (actual carrot, not just the leaves)
and even the chives that came up. Slug pellets seem to have had no effect at all, so I have started a war.
Whenever I see a snail it gets squashed or stamped on and slugs get cut in half or squashed. This has not had much effect, so when it has rained I now go on a slug hunt.
If they are crawling across the path they are……
……and moved to somewhere that is not the middle of the path.
If they are on the soil they are……
…….joining previous victims. They don’t actually stay there long. I have seen other slugs crawling on them (are they cannibals?) and if it is not the slugs it is the ants who tidy them up.
Small slugs are harder to see, but easier to squash, as are the very small snails. I rather think the snails have been breeding…… Last winter was too warm and damp and didn’t kill enough off and I probably needed to clear up more leaves so there were less hiding places. I am going to have to hunt harder – the edges of the lawns seem to be one place the slugs go and the leaves of the shrubs harbour snails. I need to reduce the population more.
So am I winning? From the number I find when I am not even on a proper hunt, then I suspect the answer is no. Hope they don’t eat all my winter violas and my new cyclamen…..