Pests? Help!

[divvintbeleiveit]

Good morning,

Back in March i started a "memorial" section of my garden so I could have somewhere to sit to spend time with my son.

I have never been one for gardening and never planted my own flowers before.

They're coming on well, but all of the leaves are eaten to bits!! I'm guessing bugs have been at them..

Is there anyway I can stop this?

I'm sorry for your loss, what a good idea.

There should be things you can do but it depends what the pests are, which in turn often depends on what the plants are! So, can you give some more details of what you've planted? Photos of the affected plants, and/or the pests themselves, may be very helpful.

Well - I planted some flowers which started to grow then were completely chomped down entirely so I've had to say goodbye to them and accept they're never coming back

I'm not good at this gardening malarkey....

I have a large sunflower which is in tact but the leaves have been eaten to bits! I will get a photo. 2 mins

Hopefully this works!

Looks like slug or snail damage... Some options to tackle this might be:

1. Nematodes - will control slugs but not snails. Need to be reapplied every 4-6 weeks between March and October
2. Slug / snail pellets - there are organic versions available which aren't harmful to pets or wildlife ( although I think worms are affected). Selective use in a small area to protect vulnerable plants is often very effective
3. Plant shrubs and plants which are less vulnerable to slugs and snails. I've got nice lavender, coreopsis, various alliums, small Acers, grasses etc, all growing in pots unbothered by slugs and snails
4. There are a range of other controls like beer traps, copper tape, eggshells etc which you will find by googling ( the RHS website is quite good). Personally, none of these work for my slug riddled garden, but worth a try.

Ah, yes, sunflowers are a particular favourite of slugs and snails I'm afraid. Even experienced gardeners will get that sort of thing so don't be disheartened, it's not you!

While seedlings are in pots, putting them on a tray of gravel might physically deter slugs and snails and can look quite nice.

Slugs and snails are probably the commonest pest - make your garden wildlife friendly if you can and maybe birds and hedgehogs (if you're really lucky) may help out.

Ahhh thanks both for the tips!

I wish I knew about the gravel truck earlier. It might've saved a lot of dead plants and flowers

Thank you - I'll have a look into these ideas and hopefully manage to get something sorted so my leaves don't look so chewed....

Now the rest of the plant is bigger and tougher, it probably won't be as irresistible for them. I'd be inclined to strip off the damaged lower leaves and put them on the ground - I believe slugs quite like decaying leaves so maybe they'll finish those up instead of bothering to climb the stalk.

I have a pesticide free garden and have frog/toads/slowworms and lots of birds who eat the slugs and other pests. Try to encourage them, garden ponds are good for all of the beneficial animals.

Thank you everyone.

Hopefully the weather picks up a bit tomorrow so I can spend some time out there tidying up what's been left (and making good use of my left over coffee!).

Hoping to keep it as tidy and perfect as I can for him, although I'm sure he's out there somewhere - laughing at my efforts!