'slug proof' plants

[Imicola]

I don't know what the deal is with the slugs and snails in my garden, but they are devouring my plants selected for their 'slug proof' reputation! Pulmonaria and astrantia can't get beyond a couple of tiny leaves before they are decimated. Hellebore flowers are all gone, but at least the leaves are intact.

So far roses, geranium, aquilegia, Japanese anemone, astilbe are surviving.

Have tried coffee grounds and egg shells which didn't help, and also some slug granules which are really ugly and also haven't helped.

Anyone else have slugs and snails with odd tastes? Have just ordered some more plants so I hope they can survive! Sweet box, more geraniums, cyclamen, vinca, heuchera, and bergenia. Was hoping for a flower filled garden this year, but so far progress isn't great!

I love delphiniums and lupins but the bloody snails and slugs destroyed them. We’ve had lots of irises, aquilegia, geraniums, hellebores, lavender, anemones and sweet Williams that have done well. Can’t offer any advice on the bastard slugs and snails but share your pain.

They have decimated one of my calibrocha and started on another.

Last year day by day they took my Queen of Hearts plug plants but seemed to leave the bigger ones.

Never could keep them off strawberries so gave up on them

Agapanthus are definitely slug & snail proof. They seem to make their home in the deep leaves but never eat them. Beautiful huge blue flowers in about July.

I share your pain. Had a very promising pot of coriander until the molluscs ate it last night.

Heucheras seem to be immune and thIngs with leathery leaves like bergenia.

We have found those copper collar things allow juicy plants to get big enough to survive attack. Why are there SO MANY SLUGS though? Something must be seriously out of balance - what are the slug-eaters I need to be attracting??

Things surviving in my garden are Geum (looking great at present) & geraniums (perennial), Astrantia which has made it after several years of being eaten as it sprouts, Solomon’s seal, peonies... but new Iris have gone in & are being attacked in the back garden while front seem ok - I need to move them.

I used to have a slug & snail problem like that when I just started gardening, possibly because all of my neighbours grow mainly grass, so my garden turned into a bit of a slug oasis.

I found that it did get a bit better over time, especially once the birds that eat them worked out just how many I had in my garden!

But the thing that made the biggest difference is an application of nematodes a few times a year. It’s not the cheapest option, but still a whole lot cheaper than replacing a garden’s worth of plants every year!

@Crazzzycat can you talk me through using nemotodes and the theory pls?? I know they're a living organism yes but you can order for delivery.

But how / when do you 'apply' and how do you work out how much / how many you need?

I have an ever growing veggie patch and am in constant battle with the slugs. I do have a resident hedgehog who doe help massively but the space is pretty spread out and I think there's some areas that could do with a boost...

Geums, salvia, verbena, rudbeckia, achillea, geraniums all left alone in my garden - anything daisy-like (Echinacea/coneflowers, helenium) are decimated.

Never mind slugs, my garden is suffering from a plague of the biggest scale insects I have ever seen in my life.

Massive bastards the size of green lentils, sitting on a nest of fluff.

Alstromeria seem to be anything proof. Even DH proof after he failed very badly to dig out a patch I wanted rid of :o

Perennial wallflowers seem okay and hardy fusias.

I've started using this www.grazers.co.uk/product/gardeners/grazers-g2-concentrate-350ml/
It seems to work , though you need to reapply quite often until the plant is big enough to survive the slugs.

They do one for aphids as well

Also meant to.say my heucheras, geums, Hydrangeas.and agapanthus never seem to get eaten . The heleniums do a bit but they seem to survive , albeit with straggly leaves

The slugs and snails in my garden seem.to mostly affect my vegetable bed, particularly the beans

Bindweed, ground elder, oxalis and herb Bennet. Coincidentally, the most persistent weeds in my garden. I would welcome slugs if they changed their diet to those...

Thanks all for the advice! It's so frustrating isn't it?!
The folks around us aren't really gardeners... Plenty of sterile monoblocks, AstroTurf, chippings, only a few proper 'gardens' so I wonder if the wildlife is all out of balance locally. We do get plenty of birds though. Hopefully I can eventually make something with a bit more of a balance, and fingers crossed some of the new plants I have ordered will survive!

Teasel, some lavender, fuschia and Californian poppies are safe in my garden.
They don't eat potato or tomato plants either.

All you need to do is decide you like weeds, they seem to leave them alone.

A snail had a go at my tomato plant! Easier to spot and get rid of in the greenhouse though!

I have about 3 million snails in my garden rather than slugs, they even eat foxglove leaves which are really tough. Things that don't get eaten are Dianthus, lavatera, osteospermum, honeysuckle, crocosmia, russian sage, buddleia, Fuschias, lavender, and Camellia.

You need to introduce predators - frogs, birds, hedgehogs and beetles. You can also create areas of plants that slugs will enjoy as diversionary plants and can place that near your predator habitat. If you are using slug pellets, you need to make sure they are listed as organic as some slug pellets can harm hedgehogs. Although, using slug pellets artificially kills off the slugs so there’s no food source for the predators you’re trying to get in. So you probably need to stop with the chemical controls and accept in the short term, your plants will be eaten but in the long term you’ll have a garden teeming with wildlife able to prey on your slugs.

Beetle and hedgehog habitats are similar. Create a log pile with some dry leaf litter in a shady part of the garden or round the back of the shed. Put a water dish out for hedgehogs, especially during summer. Birds should come when they realise there are beetles and slugs but you might also want to plant things with year round flowering. Again, you’ll need a dish of water or bird bath for them. RSPB and RHS have loads of guides on how to create habitats in your garden.

Yes, I don't have slugs much due to having a pond. I have several areas of hostas and the only things that eats them is the hare grrrrrr.
Any space for a pond?

I put gravel around all my plants. Quite a deep mulch and it keeps of the little buggers.