Here is a picture of a patch of hostas at the side of my house. There isn't a hole from slug or snail damage anywhere to be seen. The reason? I use SLUG PELLETS!
I hate snails. If I never saw another snail for the rest of my life I'd be happy. Quite how those weird french bleeders can eat them by the bucket load is beyond me. But then we did have to bail the workshy twats out of two World Wars.
If I didn't use pellets this patch of hostas (not to mention my cabbages, beans, lettuce etc) would be reduced to stalks as the snotty little sods march over them unchecked. The various solutions offered up by the yippee-hippee, organic, 'thou shalt not' brigade do NOT work. These include using layers of grit, eggshells, bran and beertraps. Why anyone would want to waste beer in such a way is beyond me. And who the hell has enough time to crush enough fecking eggshells to lay a carpet of them for God's sake?
No......believe me.....slug pellets are the only 100% solution. However, if one of the eco MENTALISTS happens to be mincing past your garden putting everyone else's world to rights just as you happen to be spreading a few pellets over your very own little patch of world, he/she will scowl at you from under their psychedelic bobble hat, snort down their pierced nose at you and puff out their chest exhibiting a CND or Greenham Common tattoo. They will bang on at you about how you're killing the environment because birds, hedgehogs, cats and dogs will be poisoned by your little blue Hiroshimas.
Over the years I have developed a way of skilfully counteracting their arguments. I tell them to f*ck off.
Slugs and snails seem to be drawn to crawl over pellets as if they're in a sort of death trance. Death is quick. And it's satisfying. But a slug or snail that has died this way does not get immediately devoured by the next passing hedgehog, frog or bird.....and how many dogs do you know that eat soil? Instead the carcasses lie there untouched for weeks, festering away. And even if a hedgehog was daft enough to eat it, then it's been estimated that they would need to eat another 9,999 for it to do it any harm !
1 comment:
Hi Simon
unfortunately I use slug pellets and find them a necessary evil!
Had every intention at the beginning of starting the allotment not to use them but alas gave in in the end. I try to be careful but hate to think of others being judgemental although I respect their choice of slug management and hope they would do the same for me!
Enjoying your blog as usual
take care
Debbie
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