Re: slugs/snails
Bob wrote:
>My mom found something that keeps the slugs off her hostas - she puts
>lots of the fruits of sweet gum (Liquidambar, not Eucalyptus, for y'all
>down in Australia) around them. The slugs seem not to like going over
>them. I'm going to give it a try around my Iris japonica, which slugs
>seem to adore.
I noticed that although they will hide amongst its foliage, snails
will not attempt to eat the leaves of Diascia patens - a vigorous S.
African climber with masses of brick pink flowers and grass-like
leaves. The Diascia is so rampant it has to be sheared off on a
regular basis, so I tried steeping a good handful of crushed leaves
and stems in a bucket of water for 24 hours before spraying the
somewhat foetid smelling brew over susceptible plants. It proved an
excellent deterrent, but only if there was no overnight rain to wash
it away.
David Poole
TORQUAY UK
