A natural way to control slugs and snails

A baby snail exploring the flower stalks of my Wild Garlic plants.

If you've got a garden, you've got slugs and snails.  Fact.  The little blighters lurk everywhere - behind walls, around pots and under planks of wood. I've even found one behind a pot on a top floor balcony! But they're also an essential part of the eco-system that our gardens need to succeed ... but possibly not in such large numbers.

Slugs come in all shapes and sizes ... and names.  A quick google search gives me banana slugs, ghost slugs, leopard slugs, pancake slugs, Spanish slugs, brown field slugs and a rainbow of slug colours - black, yellow, red, ash-grey and pink. And there's also a range of rather cute sea slugs.

They're hermaphrodes so both sexes can lay hundreds of eggs several times a year after mating. Once hatched, tiny slugs become adults within a year and then start the cycle again.

They'll munch on dead leaves, sick plants and, in the case of leopard slugs, they'll also eat each other.  And when that food source runs out, they'll head straight for your newly planted lettuces and legumes. Pity the poor gardener who persists in trying to grow hostas, lupins and delphiniums!  (There is a way round that.)

Putting aside their natural aptitude for destruction, slugs are also an important part of the garden eco-system, providing a food source for birds, foxes, beetles - and, if you're lucky, hedgehogs, frogs and ducks. So the methods I've tried and tested in my veg patch and other gardens are more about control than total annihilation.

When I wrote about natural slug deterrents in 2014, I hadn't yet tried wool pellets or Strulch. But both worked for me in subsequent years keeping slugs and snails away from beans and strawberries.  

This year I'm going to try Grazers, a natural spray recommended by garden designer Jo Thompson.  I can't report on its effectiveness yet as we haven't had much wet weather so far. (Ha! I wrote that yesterday, today it's raining.)

And I've not tried drowning slugs in pots of beer (I prefer to drink it myself) but heard from a neighbour that he'd had some success with a yeast based concoction but was unable to provide me with a recipe. It seems that it's the yeast that gets the slugs attention.

But, happy days, I've since found the magic potion online and have stored up the recipe for the next bout of expected precipitation. (Recipe at bottom of this post or watch here.)

Two more ways of protecting your veg plants; try surrounding them with plants that slugs dislike. Or, secondly, plant into pots and smear a good slick of grease such as a Vaseline around the rim - slugs will arch over copper tape but sticky grease deters them.  It certainly worked with a client's delphiniums last year!

A few plants that slugs don't like are strong smelling plants like nepeta, sage, thyme, lavender and the hairier plants like borage, foxgloves, salvia, astrantia.  I've noticed they also leave calendula alone.  All of these are also good for attracting pollinators. 

But, of course, the best deterrent is to go out during the evening with a torch and bucket of warm salty water; you'll find many molluscs feasting on your plants. Pick them off, drop them into the bucket; the salty water will kill them. Cruel but effective. But put the bodies into the compost, I'm not sure that birds would benefit from eating salty snacks. 

--------------

A recipe to capture slugs

• Approximately one cup of lukewarm water (not hot)
• 2 Tablespoons of plain flour
• 1 Tablespoon of sugar (fine sugar like caster sugar will dissolve faster)
• 1 teaspoon of dried yeast
• A jar to mix it all in.

Add all the dry ingredients in the jar, add the warm water bit by bit stirring as you go to avoid clumps. 

Make this mixture an hour before using. The mix will be active when you see foam on the top.

Pour into tubs or containers sunk partly into the soil, away from your precious plants. Check on the tubs in the morning and expect to find several slugs have found their way there. 

A few pointers on making slug traps from recycled pots can be read here.

Worth a try, eh? 

Bursting with Blissful Blossom (it must be spring)

 

That winter wasn't so bad, was it? And followed by a glorious sunny spring, it's easy to believe that the plants are jumping the gun a bit but, no, looking back at previous years, I can see that everything is right on track.  (A good reason for taking photos of the garden throughout the year.) 

After the gentle unfolding of snowdrops, then the brash appearance of yellow trumpet daffodils, the garden is settling into the season. The flowers that heralded spring in my garden are starting to fade (the pink hellebores are currently a rather lovely pale lilac grey colour) and there's something new every time I go into the garden.  It's taken a while to get to this stage but now the garden is constantly evolving and surprising me.  (No instant tv makeovers here!)

Brunnera, ajuga, camellia, forget-me-nots, white daffs and honesty ... all are brightening up the borders. Bizarrely, so is a very orange Fritillaria Imperialis. I have no idea where that came from - I definitely didn't plant it! - but am rather loving it.  I might even introduce a few more for next year. 

But it's not just flowers.  In this garden (the one I see from my balcony), the lemon verbena is pumping out delicious smelling leaves, as is the Chilean guava; hopefully there will be fruit from that this year. The blackcurrant, blueberries and gooseberries are also looking very healthy. I've planted a couple of purple sprouting broccoli into the beds as well; they're leftovers from last year so who knows if they'll actually grow but there's nothing to lose!

There are pots of dahlias, origanum Kent Beauty (the one that trails pink bracts), four mint varieties, achillea, lemon balm (those herbs are the four that make a refreshing tea) and wild strawberries.

In the veg garden, fruit trees are in full froth; one puff of wind and it will look like a wedding has just taken place. My Cavolo kale plant (just the one left!) has started to flower, the pink Chard is hanging on in there and I've had many delicious stems from my third year (perennial?) purple sprouting broccoli. 

It must be time to break out the seed box again and get the beetroot, chard and brassicas in for next year. 

News from the Veg Patch

I'd like to say that this year's growing season has been a triumph but ... sadly, no.  

But let's start with something cheerful - these nasturtiums are helpfully climbing up through the raspberry canes, the sight of their lovely vibrant flowers just sings happiness to me.

Elsewhere in the veg garden, things are not looking so rosy.  Ideally, the veg patch could have done with spring warmth and summer rain; instead, like many other gardeners, I've found the weather this year has done me and the garden no favours.  

Weeds have thrived, edible plants have not.  

Although, that said, I had a fantastic strawberry season ... over 3 kilos of tasty berries! (I think that equates to nearly 7 lbs. Impressive.)  The berries were mostly untouched by slugs, snails or birds without any protection (remarkable, given the wet weather) and the plants kept producing over several weeks. Copious rain followed by warm ripening sun seems to be the magic formula for success.  

If only I could bottle that and bring it out every year!

But no beans, peas, leeks or courgettes for me this year. What marauding molluscs didn't decimate, the heatwave finished off. Several times I've seriously considered ripping it all up and starting again with perennial flowers. But, as the saying goes, Keep Calm and Carry On Gardening. 

My tomatoes, on the other hand, are looking very promising. (I'm an optimist.) I planted them out late this year due to the chill weather so things are a bit behind schedule but green fruit has started to appear. And, this year, I diligently removed (almost) all of those little side shoots growing between the leaf and stem; a few have escaped me but I've left them alone as they've formed trusses of fruit. (Probably a mistake.) I'm watering daily and feeding every Friday and have recently pinched out the growing tops of my cordon (indeterminate) tomatoes. 

Why feed weekly on a Friday rather than, say, Monday? Because I love a bit of alliteration so 'Feed on Friday' makes for a good aide memoire.

Still on the bright side of things, apples from both the Braeburn and Core Blimey trees are looking good. They're dropping in droves from the branches but the flavour isn't there yet - it's more cardboard than crisp for now. 

Blueberries and gooseberries have also been surprisingly good and plump; Chilean guava berries, not so much. Thanks, heatwave.

The Morello cherry trees, however, which are usually of minimal interest to the birds here, were stripped bare of fruit as soon as they ripened. A phenomenon that I found both puzzling and annoying. Who were the culprits for the meticulous denuding of my Morellos?  People or birds? My money's on the pigeons.

There will be no fruit from the quince tree either. There was lots of quince blossom in the spring but not enough bees around to pollinate them. Another climate casualty.

And what of the pear and plum trees? Pears are ripening out of reach at the top of the tree, and there are no plums. Again.  That's fifteen fruit bearing years with nothing to show for it; I may have to deploy my recently serviced chainsaw. 

So that's my veg patch year so far ... more food for thought than food for the table but there's still the winter brassicas to plant out. 
 

A Feast for the Senses

 

I was reminded the other morning how rare are those times when it becomes possible to just slow down and deeply relish the moment without any of the distractions of modern life. 

I'd been down to the veg patch to water my tomatoes and, as I walked swiftly back through the gardens on my way home and towards work, I saw how quickly a few days of warm weather had ripened the blackberries on wild brambles growing untamed in one of the borders.  

I slowed down to eat a couple, lingered on to pick a small handful and then I started to look for a pot to gather enough for a pudding, a smoothie or jam. That sweet/sharp burst of juiciness was so moreish!

It was a meditative moment.

As I lingered over the picking of fruit, I relished the warmth of early morning sun after weeks of chill grey skies, the sight of the plump berries growing tall against a clear blue sky and gradually became aware of the sweet scent of honeysuckle flowers rippling towards me on the warm breeze. 

These brambles have been allowed to thrive in an untended border, pushing their way through Cornus stems, an Elaeagnus shrub, honeysuckle vines and a very large pink flowering Hebe. It was the Hebe that has always been a magnet for bees and so I gathered berries to the gentle hum of foraging honey bees and birdsong emanating from neighbouring hedges.  

As juice from the fruit stained my fingers, it occurred to me that this short interlude to my day appealed to all of my senses; it was a blissful, peaceful, hugely satisfying moment. 

It's not that where I live is noisy - planes drone quietly overhead, trains swoosh past, sirens wail, horns beep in the distance, the usual everyday city sounds - but a prolonged moment of stillness among nature is a moment to be cherished.

It reminded me of the time I lived by the sea. There, I would sit on the pebble beach, listen to the waves washing onto the shore and the gulls wheeling overhead, and watch the sun set in the west. Even then, (it was a long time ago), I could appreciate the beauty of the moment.

And now I have my garden spaces and nearby Heath.  Often, for me, the mindful benefits of gardening are limited to the satisfaction of a task finished, the physical movement involved in all that bending and stretching and the joy of a well earned good night's sleep.  

But it's the times we slow down and feel gratitude that life becomes mindful.

-----------

In case you're wondering, blackberries freeze well laid out flat on a tray then bagged up when frozen so I'll put a batch in the freezer to enjoy over winter. In the meantime though, I like the sound of the blackberry muffins and pie from this London based blogger:

https://vikalinka.com/bakery-style-blackberry-muffins/