Whats eating my Hostas.....

[divegirl]

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

[sandyRoe]

Snails & slugs find them very tasty.

[murraymints]

snails..they luuurrrrvv Hostas...

[ttfn]

Morning Lisa :)

I use a layer of crushed egg shells - keeps the slugs and snails away from the hostas. Salt will just wash away in the rain.

[murraymints]

try a ring of roughy crushed egg shell !!

[murraymints]

ttfn...two great minds in one place ?? hee hee..

[divegirl]

Thank you....eggs for breakfast it is then! I had heard of that before, just hope it doesn't get lost in the chippings.....maybe a touch of salt for luck!

Many thanks all.....

Lisa x

[Mancunian]

My Hostas went like net curtains. It was slugs, tried everything to get rid, gave up in the end. The gentleman who lives opposite has the most marvellous show of them never does a thing.

[murraymints]

Man..your hostas are obviously MUCH tastier than his !!

[sandyRoe]

If you're not too squeamish you could go out at night and pick them off your plants. Then release them in somebody else's garden?

[ttfn]

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 :)

[ttfn]

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 ...

[sandyRoe]

I have a hedgehog in the garden now. It can eat its fill of the slugs.
Throwing them into a neighbours neat garden was a sort of a joke.

[Elspeth]

We use grit around the base of the plants, which works well. But we also have a pond, which brings frogs and frogs love snails...............

[Frank97]

I keep mine in half barrels with that adhesive copper band round, seems to work a treat, I don't get much if any slug/snail damage until much later in the season.

[divegirl]

Very jealous of your hedge inhabited garden Sandy.... sadly my cats would have a field day with it :0(

I think I would prefer going out with the salt every night rather than trying to catch the bu**ers....

What about a beer trap? Do they work?

Lisa x

[divegirl]

that should of course read '' hedgeHOG inhabited garden''

[ttfn]

Big Sis had a beer trap - didn't get a single taker for it :(

[divegirl]

Ho hum....I'll just drink it myself then and then not give a toss about the Hostas lol

Lisa x

[Clanad]

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...

[Clanad]

That should be 'sharp' sand... (comes in a forty pound bag here in the U.S. at most DIY stores)...