Gardening: Hints and Help!

Just purchased two of the above compost, these are now not the same quality as last year. Its the same rubbish stuff as in most peat free bags

Perhaps one for Hostahousey. I have two Hosta's in my back garden both in pots. Not sure of the variety but one is a more compact plant and its leaves are constantly getting eaten by something. The large more vigorous plant seems to be growing rather nicely with no evidence of being eaten, they are about 10 feet apart!

David

HH will be the expert, but all I can say is that Hostas are notoriously delicious to slugs and snails. Our hostas, all in pots have never looked better than this year, and I think it might be down to getting lots of moisture, but this of course brings out the slugs and snails. Mine are in pots, but up off the ground in a hay rack pinned to wall, and a couple on an old pig killing slab affair again a foot or so off the ground. Close to bird feeders as well, so it’s a brave slug that tempts our resident blackbirds🤭 Check around the munched one for slug and snail trails, then if these are the culprit, decide how to deal with them.

(The pig killing slab you ask🤔 It was in an old outhouse when we bought the house 40 years ago. The first owners of the house, newly built in the 1860’s were successful local butchers. One of the outhouses was where pig carcasses were bled out on the shallow sink, and then I presume butchered for the shop. We demolished the old outhouse, but kept the rather lovely stone sink, quite large, but only shallow, as a garden feature. It was an alpine plant area for many years, but we moved it, without plants, to another area, and I now keep potted plants on it instead. At some point, because it has a proper drain plug, I have dreams of another water feature, but it’s very very heavy. Potted plants do well because it’s up off the ground and the pots can drain well via the plug hole!)

Inundated with slugs this year, I’ve bought new plants, put them in the garden and within 2 days they are stripped. Hostas are in pots, on the decking, pots in trays with water in, (hoping slugs can’t swim) copper tape around the top, grit and eggshells around the base of the plants, checked every day and ok so far, fingers crossed. I saw on another site that someone had put a ring of 2p pieces around their plants. I had some waiting to be exchanged at the bank, so I’ve now put rings around newly planted plants, where I can’t put copper tape 🤞 so far ok.... Maybe the pennies will grow 😂 

It’s a bit of a bad year for some things. I’m not doing too bad with slug damage, but it’s been so wet, I have “rust” on some of my roses for first time ever. Just going to roll with it if I can, I sprayed for other rose nasties last week, and they seem to be budding up wonderfully. I even have one or two fully flowering. I am having an afternoon pottering, just tidying up a few pots, cutting back a few things, hoping to lay some bark in some areas. It’s clouded over here, we are right on the edge of the Amber thunderstorm warnings, so hoping we miss out.

Yes slugs and snails are a problem with Hostas. I use horticultural grit around my pots, the main problem with slugs 🐌 and snails is they lay their eggs below ground and these lay dormant until the following year. They then hatch in the Spring and unfortunately eat fresh new growth and carry on eating over summer. A good way that can help in Autumn when the plant is starting to die off , remove from pot or ground and wash all the roots clean and repot  in new compost and re-grit. This is time consuming but might be worth a try on a couple and see what result you get .

Quite a fright last night, it really took me back. I had just finished my usual 30 min torch light slug hunt and was about to come in when I decided to return to one spot near the back door where I have just planted some new climbing plants which have been getting decimated by slugs. All seemed ok and then I pulled back the leaves on one plant, to jump backwards. I’m used to very large slugs in our garden but this one! Slithering across the ground was the biggest slug I’ve ever seen, about 8inches long and thick and round as well, it must have just come under the fence from next door, at first I thought it was a snake, much, much bigger than a slow worm. After recovering I did dispose of it but it really shook me. I looked it up and apparently it was a leopard slug, which does eat other slugs but also carries parasites so best gone. I don’t want to find anymore.

That sounds a monster😱 I think it is the little ones that do the most damage though. My Sis loves Pistachio Nuts, so I have been collecting the shells to use as pot toppings, another one to try. I used to have a Slug Pub as well, not sure where that is🤔 Intoxicate them until they drown. 

I will be waging war on Lily Beetles next though, spotted a couple this week😡

Yes Lilly Beetles….they can strip lilies in a day , terrible things.

I am rather enjoying growing plants from seed at the moment, and all the more so as I don’t actually buy most of them. You do need to be around at regular intervals (every couple of days) to make sure they get a good start, watering, pest control, thinning, etc… and it can be a bit time consuming pricking seedlings out into pots, but it does give an abundance of plants. I collect seed from everywhere we visit if I can, throughout the year, with permission, and collect seed from my own garden in the Autumn as well. I was given some Black Ball Scabious seeds by Head Gardener at Renishaw Hall last year, and delighted that they are doing very well. I have various colour Hollyhocks from a variety of locations up and down the country, Pink from a shop garden in Avebury, white from the White Garden at Barrington Court, red from Belton House, light pink from somewhere else! My oldest HH’s are from a lovely campsite we used to use at Bodinnick, near Fowey. The farmhouse always had a good stand of the very dark (black) HH’s, and I collected some seeds and brought them home, keeping at least a couple of the offspring going from over 30 years ago. I love plants that remind me of places we have visited😁