Slugs seem to be feasting on my coral bells so tonight I put out slug killer. It says it can be harmfull to daylilies and I did sprinkle some along the basement window casing sort of near my daylilies. How close is too close? I am hoping it doesn't damage them but I may have gotten too close. It is going to rain and I am afraid the stuff will seep in and harm them.
question about slug killer
I used Sluggo in the spring to take care of sluggs and snails. It didnt work so if thats the product you used maybe your going to be OK.
We have an overstock of slimy crawling things,nothing seems to stop them.Ligularias are looking lacy not to mention the hostas.
I found snails o the Hydrangeas.
We mulch a lot on clay soil so thats where they like to live and multiply
I have clay too and use compost and mulch. So far he hydrangeas are okay and so are the hosta (fingers crossed) It just seems to be on the bed running along the Western side of the house near the window casements. I bought the ortho slug killer not sluggo but think I need to use coffee grounds too. I heard that can be effective and I use them on the roses.
I'll try coffee grounds ,but need a yard so I'll have to hit Starbucks dumpster
Starbucks bags up grounds for gardeners. I hit the one by my office at least once a week. Plus I save all mine and my neighbor saves hers for me. I just love it as an organic fertilizer because it is so easy.
I purchased copper coils last year to surround all my hostas with and it worked great. I guess slugs get a shock or electocuted if they go near it. I rolled it up late last fall and can re-use it this year. Highly recommend it. I bought it here in Canada at Lee Valley.
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=51241&cat=2,51555&ap=3
I'm there
Sluggo, if not soaked too much by my own soft-soak watering as needed (near on my tummy below the plant leaves) or natural rain, does work for me but not very long. If I owned a hotel or had arrangements w.downtown resteurants, mega egg shells would be great, as well as tiny chopped slate. Anything that they know would cut up their slimy tummies. But copper is a bigger secret than emptying disgusting beer cavity dishes that one may miss for a week. (PHEW!) But all I can find is very expensive copper
sheets of 12 inches wide, and very expensive, and needed to be cut to strips, so I hand pick, throw out a few weekends of a small amount of egg-shells, some sharp small stones, when trying to find a new planting space. When one hits 70 of wonderful 20 yrs. as a beginner, we learn so much, but find our wallet, and our physical ability of carrying heavy bags of compost, bending to weed or seed, and uphill and downhill dragging a 200 foot house, a bit of a scary question of not able to answer what I can hear in my mind that the gardens way above our huge flat parking lot SCREAM ~ I NEED WATER.
Later w/smiles as I ramble, and for another year, are so thankful to garden again, though after 20 yrs. still haven't figured out the perfect palette of "beautiful" at home or at camp, or remove the worry of watering when I'm at camp about drying out home there once a week, or in the reverse for all the camp all spring before we move there in late June. ARRGH!
Corinne from smallest USA capitol - VT.
Sorry to bore you with so much chat!
My neighbor is over 80 and comes to my garden because, and I quote, "I am to old to bed and play in the dirt anymore". I have a small table and chairs I set up for her and told her to enjoy it anytime. The 5yo neighbor on the other side is turning into my garden buddie and loves to help me plant things.
I guess since I am somewhere in the middle it is up to me to do the hauling and bending since good gardens make good neighbors.
I find 3" high copper collars around certain hosta the most effective way to keep slugs off my plants. However, it doesn't kill them, of course, so it doesn't do anything to help keep their numbers down. I captured a slug and placed him in the center of a copper collar...I watched him try to escape over a period of a vew hours...I can tell you that he DID attempt to climb out...he didn't visibly react to touching the copper, so I'm not sure that they are electrocuted by copper or anything. However, he would get about half way up the three inch collar and then turn back down. He tried it many times before giving up and snuggling down into the dirt. So something about copper, they don't like. It does have limitations however, aside from cost- if the hosta leaves touch the ground outside the copper, they'll get in that way. Or if any leaves overlap other non protected plants. Or if you have any gaps under the collar for them to crawl thru.
I too use Sluggo because I have dogs and don't want to use the bigger guns, Metaldehyde bait. I have a problem with chipmunks eating most of the Sluggo I put down, so it's not very effective for me.
It just doesnt work here either .I find the sluggs go for the lighter colored plants,leaves are more tender I guess.I'm going to start to do the beer thing
Yeah, I notice they like the ones with a lot of white on them. Beer is something that didn't work for me at all.
Here is a link I just found that lays out a bunch of ideas:
http://www.ghorganics.com/page13.html
BTW, slugs don't steer clear of daylilies in my garden..I frequently find them there, and sometimes they do a lot of damage to the emerging scapes.
If slugs hate anything that will tear up the bellies could the fish gravel work? Just thinking that is may even be fun around plants
Hey, it's worth a shot...is it sharper than average gravel? My mom sent me some of those prickly little balls that fall off the trees where she lives, but I think if I made a circle from them, they'd still be able to crawl in between them. The biggest issue with barriers is that many of mine now are bigger and the leaves touch the ground.
There are far too many hostas here to fuss that much but it sounds like a good idea for you