Pests and diseases - Slugs and Snails

Signs - Irregular holes are eaten from leaves, slime trails often left around the plants on the soil and the leaves

Damage - Young plants and seedlings are particularly vulnerable and can be stripped bare or eaten down to the ground. Particularly fond of Hostas and Delphiniums.

Treatment - Treatments abound for slugs and snails so there's no choice of options to try. My own personal approach is to not grow anything that they like eating apart from Delphiniums because I love Delphiniums. When the new shoots are emerging in the spring I scatter mini slug pellets around them and stop when the leaves are large enough to be less tasty to the slugs.

    These animals feed mainly at night so if you are particularly bothered, you can go out and manually pick them off those plants most under attack.

    Rings of material that is uncomfortable to cross such as sharp grit or broken egg shells will sometimes discourage them, I did see an experiment on this though on a gardening programme and they happily crossed everything in their path.

    Plants in pots can be protected by greasing the rim with Vaseline and salt.

    An old remedy to deter snails and slugs is to collect as many as possible, morning and evening. Tip them into a bucket of boiling water and let it stand for a few days until the smell becomes fearsome, then strain off the liquid and use it to sprinkle round vulnerable plants, such as the young growth of delphiniums, lettuce and so on - but not on them. The remains of the slugs and snails can also be scattered.

    Sprinkle slugs with salt to kill them (if you can stand the resulting agony).

    Trap them using containers in the ground, slightly propped up pie tins or plant pots that have various baits in them though you still have to get rid of them which can be a problem if you don't hate your neighbor. Suggested baits:

    You can deal with your captured slugs and snails in a number of ways according to taste. Placing them out for the birds may work, but the slugs and snails invariably make a run for it so some escape.

    Another way to deal with your captured slugs and snails (I haven't tried it myself - the wife won't let me) is to put them in a plastic Tupperware type container and then put them in the freezer. This is probably the most humane way as they just slow down and become torpid in the cold being cold blooded (yes they do have blood of sorts). So they are effectively anaesthetised before being frozen, put the carcasses on the compost heap.

    Plastic bottles.  Take a 1.5Ltr or 2Ltr clear plastic bottle and cut off the base with scissors. Remove the stopper and place over a single plant. A simple but effective way of protecting tender plants from slugs or the weather.

    Go out to the garden in the late afternoon and lay boards or pieces of cardboard on the bare soil around your plants. In the morning turn the boards over and scrape the hiding slugs into a large yogurt or cottage cheese container.

    Animal control, ducks, chickens, frogs, toads and turtles all eat slugs and snails and can be used in a fenced yard or greenhouse as appropriate.