P
Peace perfect peace
Welcome to all,
Just thought i'd have a chat while im melting away,
Its a really hot afternoon today, But musnt complain after all thats one of the three reasons we came to live here We do have a summer every year,
When we lived in north wales it rained a lot,
"Come down the mountian "bailey" is playing on the radio, Irish pub songs, smashing station if you like all kinds of Irish country Music, Im missing you just started
Can anyone guess who's the singer ?
Clue! He likes ladies in red !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway i was just looking back at some of the past weeks threads And one i gave advice on was ref Slugs,
Well after reading what i had to say i thought i could have given a bit of the tactics for stopping these slugs from both eating the veg etc so have a little read of this lot,
Slugs do's and dont's
One thing we'll all agree is that if we understand what the slug is all about,
Is it a needed creature in our gardens ? And if so why and what for?
Well The anwser is Yes it is a needed garden "pest"
It feeds both birds and hedge hoggs and frogs and worms,
The more birds you have in the garden the better, they eat piles & piles of all sorts of insects including slugs/snails,
Hedge hoggs are the gardeners friend in so many ways, again eating all kinds of what we the gardener call pest,
I think you'll be the first to want to know how do we get wild life into the garden area veg patch or flower growing area's,
If we can get wild life to take care of the slugs or at least help keep the numbers down and for free !!! Well thats a good thing,
A small pond and i do mean small you dont need something that needs the services of the life guards , but big enough to encourage wild life ,ie the birds to bathe in it, dragon fly, to visit etc, this pond idea can be a large washing up bowl size if your short of space,
Ensure you angle any such water holding device so it has a shallow end so birds etc can get out,
Now we've sorted out a holiday camp for the visiting wild life How can we encourage the slug Army to be in all in the same place ?
If near to your growing area you have space for a small length of wood or a sheet of metal, This is we're the slugs will stay until its dark and cooler,
Slugs do not like heat, they have no covering unlike the snail who has its home on its back and can shelter when needed,
But slugs will hide under such places as a sheet of wood/metal And straww or grass mulch, Yes mulch!!! So all that mulch you've got around your plants
(Inches deep) Is like a block of flats to the slug family, warm, moist and a great hiding place from their enemy "The gardener" He's not going to move the mulch around is he?"
If you lift the sheet of wood/metal etc that was placed flat on the ground,
during the day you'll see more than one slug,
What do you do with these slugs, A pair of scissors and simply cut them in half,
You can also use a container filled with beer, dont buy the most exspensive beer, but the very cheapest from the big food stores, its the hop smell that attracts the slugs and the hangover that encourages them to think they can swim and they can't?
Grape fruit skins cut into two half pieces and placed upside down will also attract slugs to shelter, again these must be inspected daily and all slugs given the scissor treatment.
Now im sure you'll understand slugs like moist damp conditions So this should tell you something ref when "NOT" to water your garden??????
Of an evening, if you do water of an evening your making the conditions around all your lovely veg and Lupin small plants just what they like, Damp/Moist,
So what do we do with all these dead slugs or indeed any live ones we find and dont want to do the "LAURA ASHLEY" scissor cut ?
The compost heap is the best place for two reasons, (A) this is the place for worms, its their working place we're they eat all the veg waste and slugs and it ends up as humus and compost, so the compost heap is best,
(B) The compost heap has all the veg/salad waste on it to keep the slugs happy until invited to a worm Ball and Dinner dance, (the slugs will be the dinner bit)
Now we have to ask ourselves we're not to have our veg/flower growing area's ???? Do not have these plots near a compost heap as its the place the slugs will be if you put them there or not,
One more point ref compost (home grown heaps) they are more likley to have slug eggs in the compost than bought bagged and steamed/vacuumed packed compost,
So you've been warned?
Last but very very much not least,
Having said about the places slugs like to hide including the mulched beds/borders and the base of trees /plants/ etc,
How do we mulch these large area's and with what?
Use a good thick layer of compost, it will still retain moisture or leaf mold, will do the same job, But keep the area clean, remove grass etc away from plants
you know what slugs like,
DO NOT USE the Blue slug pellets as these will kill the wild life ie Birds/frogs/ etc Even if the slug has eaten the pellet and the wild ife eat's the slug the wild life will also die,
You can buy in the garden centre's etc NEMASLUG, its a pellet form but its a form of cotton material and breakes down once wet and looks like Wheat-A Bix
Its said these slug pellets are a good buy, Ive not used them so i cant say yes or no to using them,
Well a bit of a long one but worth knowing about and i hope its helped a few new to gardening what slugs are about and give thought as to do and not do,
Good gardening to you all,
Just thought i'd have a chat while im melting away,
Its a really hot afternoon today, But musnt complain after all thats one of the three reasons we came to live here We do have a summer every year,
When we lived in north wales it rained a lot,
"Come down the mountian "bailey" is playing on the radio, Irish pub songs, smashing station if you like all kinds of Irish country Music, Im missing you just started
Can anyone guess who's the singer ?
Clue! He likes ladies in red !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway i was just looking back at some of the past weeks threads And one i gave advice on was ref Slugs,
Well after reading what i had to say i thought i could have given a bit of the tactics for stopping these slugs from both eating the veg etc so have a little read of this lot,
Slugs do's and dont's
One thing we'll all agree is that if we understand what the slug is all about,
Is it a needed creature in our gardens ? And if so why and what for?
Well The anwser is Yes it is a needed garden "pest"
It feeds both birds and hedge hoggs and frogs and worms,
The more birds you have in the garden the better, they eat piles & piles of all sorts of insects including slugs/snails,
Hedge hoggs are the gardeners friend in so many ways, again eating all kinds of what we the gardener call pest,
I think you'll be the first to want to know how do we get wild life into the garden area veg patch or flower growing area's,
If we can get wild life to take care of the slugs or at least help keep the numbers down and for free !!! Well thats a good thing,
A small pond and i do mean small you dont need something that needs the services of the life guards , but big enough to encourage wild life ,ie the birds to bathe in it, dragon fly, to visit etc, this pond idea can be a large washing up bowl size if your short of space,
Ensure you angle any such water holding device so it has a shallow end so birds etc can get out,
Now we've sorted out a holiday camp for the visiting wild life How can we encourage the slug Army to be in all in the same place ?
If near to your growing area you have space for a small length of wood or a sheet of metal, This is we're the slugs will stay until its dark and cooler,
Slugs do not like heat, they have no covering unlike the snail who has its home on its back and can shelter when needed,
But slugs will hide under such places as a sheet of wood/metal And straww or grass mulch, Yes mulch!!! So all that mulch you've got around your plants
(Inches deep) Is like a block of flats to the slug family, warm, moist and a great hiding place from their enemy "The gardener" He's not going to move the mulch around is he?"
If you lift the sheet of wood/metal etc that was placed flat on the ground,
during the day you'll see more than one slug,
What do you do with these slugs, A pair of scissors and simply cut them in half,
You can also use a container filled with beer, dont buy the most exspensive beer, but the very cheapest from the big food stores, its the hop smell that attracts the slugs and the hangover that encourages them to think they can swim and they can't?
Grape fruit skins cut into two half pieces and placed upside down will also attract slugs to shelter, again these must be inspected daily and all slugs given the scissor treatment.
Now im sure you'll understand slugs like moist damp conditions So this should tell you something ref when "NOT" to water your garden??????
Of an evening, if you do water of an evening your making the conditions around all your lovely veg and Lupin small plants just what they like, Damp/Moist,
So what do we do with all these dead slugs or indeed any live ones we find and dont want to do the "LAURA ASHLEY" scissor cut ?
The compost heap is the best place for two reasons, (A) this is the place for worms, its their working place we're they eat all the veg waste and slugs and it ends up as humus and compost, so the compost heap is best,
(B) The compost heap has all the veg/salad waste on it to keep the slugs happy until invited to a worm Ball and Dinner dance, (the slugs will be the dinner bit)
Now we have to ask ourselves we're not to have our veg/flower growing area's ???? Do not have these plots near a compost heap as its the place the slugs will be if you put them there or not,
One more point ref compost (home grown heaps) they are more likley to have slug eggs in the compost than bought bagged and steamed/vacuumed packed compost,
So you've been warned?
Last but very very much not least,
Having said about the places slugs like to hide including the mulched beds/borders and the base of trees /plants/ etc,
How do we mulch these large area's and with what?
Use a good thick layer of compost, it will still retain moisture or leaf mold, will do the same job, But keep the area clean, remove grass etc away from plants
you know what slugs like,
DO NOT USE the Blue slug pellets as these will kill the wild life ie Birds/frogs/ etc Even if the slug has eaten the pellet and the wild ife eat's the slug the wild life will also die,
You can buy in the garden centre's etc NEMASLUG, its a pellet form but its a form of cotton material and breakes down once wet and looks like Wheat-A Bix
Its said these slug pellets are a good buy, Ive not used them so i cant say yes or no to using them,
Well a bit of a long one but worth knowing about and i hope its helped a few new to gardening what slugs are about and give thought as to do and not do,
Good gardening to you all,