MOOR gardening

Slugs
I dont know about the rest of you gardeners out there but I am having terrible trouble sleeping at the moment. Every night I drift off ok but then the nightmare begins. Im pottering around the garden, tending my plants, enjoying the wonderful sunshine when suddenly everything goes dark, the heavens open and the ground starts to shake. I turn around nervously, scarcely believing my eyes. An army of giant, slimy, legless creatures is heading straight for me. Slugs: Lady Mucks Nemesis. Try as I might I am helpless against these evil pests with their twitching tentacles and their Machiavellian mouths curling into cruel grins as they mock my pitiful attempts to stop them devouring my precious plants. Finally, just as I look set to become the next

Her Ladyship takes on Garden Enemy No 1:

By Catherine Saunders
Twitter @LadyMuckStyle

item on their menu I wake up, trembling from head to toe, bathed in sweat with a very unhappy Lord Muck before me, nursing a black eye from where I apparently mistook him in my sleep for Arion Vulgaris, the monster Spanish Slug, the leader of the slimy army. Oops. So to save you from such a nightmare and your other half from a black eye, here are Lady Mucks top ve wildlife-friendly tips for protecting your plants from these slimy pests. Slugs and snails loathe garlic so a Garlic Spray works a treat in the garden. Crush 1 garlic bulb, add to 1 litre of water and boil for 5 minutes. After cooling, strain the liquid into a bottle and store in fridge. Dilute the solution 1 tablespoon per litre and spray your plants and surrounding soil. Remenber to repeat after rain. Slug Nematodes, whilst costly, are extremely effective, especially on allotments.

Slug nematodes are microscopic transparent worms which feed and multiply inside the slug, not visible with a hand lens. Just dilute and water on. An infected slug stops feeding within 3 to 5 days and then displays a typical swelling of the mantle. The nematodes multiply inside the slug and when the slug starts to decompose, a new generation of nematodes emerges www. gardening-naturally.com

The War on Slugs. Battleground: Moor Manor. Time: Nightfall. Weapons: Sugar Tongs, Torch and Scissors. Bring it on.
Encircling plants with crushed egg shells, sawdust, gravel, grit, pine needles or coffee grounds often works, as does placing pots on lime stone chippings or wrapping them with copper tape. My preferred weapons are a pair of sugar tongs, a torch and a pair of scissors which I use as night descends to seek out and destroy the slimy suckers just as they are tucking in. However, this method of control is denitely not for the squeamish. Last but by no means least, slugs and snails love oatmeal. Place some around your plants and they will gorge themselves on it so much so that they have been known to explode. Bring it on.
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