Richard's Garden

After the flood, then comes the slugs!

Actually, my garden is susceptible to slugs. I don't use slug bait, instead, I rely on more natural ways to get rid of them. In the past there were quite a few common frogs in my garden (our pond usually had a frog orgy every spring) and there were some toads too. We also had a hedgehog for a few years. Now they all seem to be gone :-( I saw the hedgehog last year, but it has not returned this year. I have not seen any of the toads for the last two years. And the frog orgy? Well, this year there was just one female and two suitors: not quite a wild orgy. Apparently there is a world-wide extinction of amphibians occurring at the moment (from a fungal infection called chytrid).

So to curb the slugs I decided to use nematodes. I have used Nemaslug before and they were successful. Nemaslug are nematodes that are parasite to slugs. A few days after ordering them a sealed plastic box appears in the post. You mix the contents with water (one packet to 16 litres of water) and then water the area to protect using a coarse rose. Slugs get infected with the nematodes and die underground.

In the past when I have used them they have been successful - the six weeks of being slug free is enough for young plants to get established.

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