Snail Attack!

Oh yes - snails and slugs. I bought three lupins two weekends ago and they've suffered the same fate as yours. I also got three perennial lobelias (the tall red ones) and haven't put them in the bed I really want them in as last year's, which went in there, have disappeared never to be seen again. (One of my beds seems to be worse than the others.) I even found a nest of lupins hiding under a big bush of hyssop which is taking over my herb bed and left them there cos the hyssop is tough enough to withstand anything. My thought was that if I left them there they wouldn't go anywhere else - but it keeps raining and they keep going out, singing and dancing....
And I'm told that throwing them over the fence into next door does no good because they 'home'.....I wonder that the thrushes haven't got stuck in ...but unfortunately there aren't many around here.

xxx

Snail joke

A male blonde went to a fancy dress party with nothing but a young woman on his back.
"What the heck are you supposed to be?" the host asked.
"I'm a snail." The bloke replied.
"What a load of nonsense!" the host blurted. "How can you be a snail when all you've got is that young woman on your back?"
"You've got it wrong, my friend," the bloke replied. "That's Michelle". (Me shell) :D:D:D:D

And I'm told that throwing them over the fence into next door does no good because they 'home'.....I wonder that the thrushes haven't got stuck in ...but unfortunately there aren't many around here.

xxx

Not only slugs and snails 'home' - but - your neighbours have the same idea and are also throwing their molluscs over to your side of the fence, so you end up balancing out the numbers on both sides 😉

On a less flippant note, picking slugs and snails by hand does seem to have one of the more effective control methods - but the dilemma is what to do with them afterwards? Some drown them in salty water (which kills molluscs) - it is not a pretty sight - and would probably amount to torture in the eyes of some people! (having tried it once many years ago I do not have the heart to repeat the experience).
Some people I know collect their slugs and snails and take them to the local wood or park.

In the ideal world the ecological balance in our garden should be such that every plant and creature has its own place and nothing gets out of hand, but in real life this rarely happens. If you have some particularly precious plants I would suggest to plant "distractors" in the vicinity that the slugs are likely prefer to your prized posessions - e.g. nothing can compare to a nice succulent lettuce on a slug's menu.

Masha

i have lost every herb i have planted this year because of the snails, they seem massive. i have tried putting vaseline on the rims of the pots but that does not seem to be working. i dont want to do anything to hurt them but i wish they would go next door their garden is like a wilderness and they would love it there. but no they want my herbs and strawberries.

I've had the same problem for years, not just with plants, but when it rains, the snails crawl up my windows, a few weeks ago I had to shut all my blinds so I couldn't see them, it was gross.

I normally get my 8 year old son to pick them up, he had fun launching them into the field opposite our house (and before anyone shoots me down in flames for cruelty, I just want to add, I don't care, I hate sanils, they are horrible and I am not cruel to anything but insects (though I do allow spiders to live). :p

I tried using slug/snail pellets, they helped a little, but I think it is something that I will need to use every week to keep the probelm away.....would love to know where they all come from though.

Angel x

Please don't use slug pellets, Angel. they are horribly toxic and can kill birds too.

xxx

i think it is down to the amount of rain we have had this year. i never use pellets. i worry about the wildlife so i either go round pick them up and move them or use beer traps. at least they die happy - at leasts i hope so. yesterday after a short shower i collected 40 slugs (no snails) from my lawn which is only about 16ft square! if i see snails i generally leave them as i quite like them! i do move them off my hostas though! i have heard though that they can make their way back from quite a distance. i hope it isnt true as i drop them off inthe bushes outside my garden!!!

i actually found one on my kitchen work top, it had come through the window which i had left open for my cats. my hostas are looking very thread bare and as i said earlier all the herbs i have planted or grown from seed have nearly gone. if i plant a little garden for them next year do you think they would stay in it.

They've eaten some small poppies that I had in a pot. Like Sunanda they've totally eaten by dark leaved lobelia and my hosta is full of half eaten leaves. We get frogs in the garden quite often, aren't they suppose to eat them?

I don't think frogs eat snails, Treak! How would they break the shells? Perhaps the connection in your head is that the French eat both snails and frogs legs. Would that be it? :005:

xxx

good way of connecting this sunada

ps i think the french could have a wonderful feast in my garden

Diet
Common frogs do not feed at all throughout the breeding season, but when they are active they will feed on any moving invertebrates of a suitable size, such as insects, snails, slugs and worms, which they catch with their long, sticky tongues. Adult frogs feed entirely on land, whereas younger frogs will also feed in the water. Tadpoles are herbivorous and feed on algae but become carnivores when they mature into adult frogs.
[DLMURL] http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/483.shtml [/DLMURL]

I think frogs will eat snails....eurghh:cool:

I still would like to see them cracking the shells!

xxx

i still would like to see them cracking the shells!

Xxx

:005:

I don't think frogs eat snails, Treak! How would they break the shells? Perhaps the connection in your head is that the French eat both snails and frogs legs. Would that be it? :005:

xxx

I was thinking of the low income snails, you know, slugs - the one's that can't afford their own house(shell)! 😀

URGHHHHH!

I dunno what would be worse, frogs in my garden or snails?:eek:

Come to think of it, since using the pellets, I haven't seen so many words in the garden....oh no what have I done!:( Okay will stop using pellets, thanks for the heads up on that one.

I guess the only preventative is to hand pick them out.

Angel x

URGHHHHH!

I dunno what would be worse, frogs in my garden or snails?:eek:

Angel x

but Angel...frogs are a gardeners ally..they eat those creepy crawly bugs.....why do you think they have such a long sticky tongue

Must admit I love frogs. Whenever I see one I just have to pick it up and give it a stroke. Not plucked up courage to kiss one yet though!

What kind of shoes do frogs wear?
Open toad!

Ohhh I can't do frogs, the children next door found one last week and kept in a large bucket in their garden, I heard their mum scream the frogs's escaped! I couldn't bring myself to open the door for 3 days.:(

I prefer rats to frogs.....daddy long legs are another no no too.

I've used the beer in a plate for the snails and I collected dozens. I put them on the green opposite my house and watched the birds swoop down for them....must of been a delicacy for them, snails sauteed in Stella Artois.

Angel x

My mum used to collect all the slugs and snails and then put salt on them. It wasn't nice. Then she had some of those beer things. You bury them in the ground with the top poking out. The slugs are attracted to the beer, fall in and drown.

Nothing really worked, so now she's just stopped buying the plants that keep getting eaten and bought more of the ones that don't (don't ask me what they are coz I couldn't tell you!!). The garden looks lovelier than ever and she doesn't stress about the slugs anymore. We also have a little frog that's moved into our pond. Although he's quite small and I don't think he eats that many slugs.

I was going to start a new thread but then thought to put this post here. I have discovered another problem in my garden on top of the slugs and snails: the other day I was looking out of the kitchen window and noticed a squirrel in the flower bed right in front of me. As I watched, it casually reached up and pulled down a fuchsia bud which it then started eating. Deciding it didn't like the flavour, it moved on to the bellflowers next door. At that point I started banging on the window and it slowly looked up at me with such a funny expression. I'm sure it was saying 'Who do you think you're banging at?' It didn't scarper until I opened the back door and chased it away. Cheeky blighter. I never knew squirrels ate flowers.

xxx

They chewed through my washing line but I've never seen them eat flowers! I've not seen any young squirrels this year but no doubt they will all start appearing soon when the nuts are back out for the birds!

Hey, my washing line broke last year. Do you mean to tell me that was the squirrels wot done it?

Ah!! squiddles how lovely! I found this in my garden. Im sure they're bigger than usual this year.

Now I know why I only had a few strawberries.

The other morning when it was drizzling I counted (and removed but didn't kill) twelve (12!) of the most enormous humoungous gigantic SLUGS I have ever seen in my life. They were on my paving stones and very visible. Like they were taking a shower. They went over the fence, I'm afraid (onto some rough ground, not on to my neighbour's garden!)

xxx

Ah!! squiddles how lovely! I found this in my garden. Im sure they're bigger than usual this year.

Now I know why I only had a few strawberries.

Don't just stand there taking pictures woman - it's eaten his hand:eek::speechless-smiley-0:eeeK:

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:005: hi Treacs :038:

I realise I am several years too late to help solve the snail problem in the OP on lupins. However, this is the first year I have been successful in a beautiful purple lupin blooming undeterred/uneaten by snails....and in the same long container! So I am making this post to help members who may have this problem since I found a solution...(a salty one!)

The container is in an ornate metal wheelbarrow (which, you might think - being off the ground - might be enough to deter the snails!) It's an oblong plastic container with a lip all around it. I know snails like to sleep under these kind of lips to containers. So, I had a brainwave. I made a strong salt solution paste and rubbed it into the lip area (all around the container). That did it! After years of dismay with seeing lupins eaten before fully blooming, I can't tell you what a delight and how proud I am to now have a successful bloom....finally...in my garden!

I realise I am several years too late to help solve the snail problem in the OP on lupins. However, this is the first year I have been successful in a beautiful purple lupin blooming undeterred/uneaten by snails....and in the same long container! So I am making this post to help members who may have this problem since I found a solution...(a salty one!)

The container is in an ornate metal wheelbarrow (which, you might think - being off the ground - might be enough to deter the snails!) It's an oblong plastic container with a lip all around it. I know snails like to sleep under these kind of lips to containers. So, I had a brainwave. I made a strong salt solution paste and rubbed it into the lip area (all around the container). That did it! After years of dismay with seeing lupins eaten before fully blooming, I can't tell you what a delight and how proud I am to now have a successful bloom....finally...in my garden!

Well done! We haven't tried lupins in our present garden yet, but had your problem with snails in both Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. I think we might have more success here because the bigger garden allows a more natural balance to emerge.
You could try coffee as well - I save spent grounds for a couple of weeks before planting out my courgettes, and surround the plants with the grounds. Occasionally we'll buy instant for a visitor who doesn't finish the jar. Then I add water to whatever is left and use it to water plants that aren't yet established.