Slugs and Snails

This sounds ever so novice..

But a pet(dog) safe way to get rid of slug and snails.

I've had enough! Over night my lovely big fluffy red leaf plant has been totally demolished! It's stem is as thick as a 2p and its cut it right off and eaten all the evidence that a large leafy stem ever existed! (half a foot tall!).

Found some possible culprits and threw them over the wall out of the garden,
but i want something more effective then me throwing them out.

I've heard about beer? By drowning them somehow?

Any ideas?

 

Hi Elizabeth
everyone has their own "best ideas" for controlling slugs, but generallythe consensus usually ends up at Blue Slug Pellets.
There are cats and dogs all around us and don't seem effected by the pellets.
As slugs like to hide during the day, I tend to control by applying the pellets close to fences under bushes. It works and birds etc. don't have access. Cats do go under bushes, hedges etc. but don't seem to be interested in pellets.
I expect you will receive other opinions, so sit back and enjoy the debate.
BTW. Flying Slugs tend to come back, so there's no point in sending them on a short holiday.

 

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/weedki...io-garden-slug+snail-killer-1kg/invt/0212199/
I use this Elizabeth , we also have a dog and it is safe. The slugs and snails seem to be very virulent a the moment causing quite a bit of damage to my Marigolds. You can use beer traps as well but they have limited effect in my experiance.

 

I actually have some of that, HarryS - but i am reluctant to use it with the dog around, mainly because he does like to nibble the long grass around my borders.

Perhaps i will try a small amount, like gcc3663 said, around the plants by the fence/wall where they probably enjoy the most time as it's sheltered..

I have also heard sand, small amounts of salt, and bran is good repellant for around the flowers on the soil??

 

I sympathise, Elizabeth. Do you, like me, live in an area with chalky soil? Snails are supposed to be more of a problem in such areas, as they love the calcium for their shells. They also like damp, shady places and I have plenty of those. Over the years I have tried absolutely every anti slug and snail product known to man. Copper tape? Medway snails positively enjoy a mild electric shock. They are hard. Egg shells? Don't make them laugh their little feelers off. Grit and gravel? Well, that just adds a slight frisson to their gourmet meals. Beer? It just brings out their latent aggression. A good slug killer is the only sure-fire way to keep them off your plants, but the problem is that it's a bait. In other words, it kills not only the snails that are trying to get to your plant but all their mates who might have gone somewhere else had they not sensed a delicious poison. Finding all those bodies in the morning and having to dispose of them is not my idea of happy gardening.

So I'm afraid I have learnt to live with my snails. Elsewhere on the forum you'll find a sticky with a surprisingly long list of plants that molluscs won't touch. It's not foolproof - a starving snail will eat almost anything - but it does allow you to have a fairly stress-free garden. On the whole, hardy geraniums are snail proof, as are many (but not all) scented leaved plants. Lavender is a safe bet. Snails hate penstemons as much as I love them. Shrubs are much better able to shrug off attacks than soft stemmed perennials. Don't attempt to grow delphiniums, unless you are prepared to sit out all night guarding them by torch light.

I still curse the little blighters, and I still have losses. But no one could say my garden is short of plants.

 

That's quite funny ClaraLou - as this poor plant of mine was surrounded by Penstemons - and i did wonder why they hadn't been touched! Think i may surround my poor little plant with them as an attempt as a barrier!