Gardeners' war against snails
GARDENERS are waging all-out war against hordes of snails which have been unleashed by the wet weather.
Snails and slugs are being targeted with a range of weapons, such as old-style traps filled with beer and microscopic worms to stop them attacking the nation’s plants.
Last week the Royal Horticultural Society sent out a slug and snail alert now that heavy rain and muggy temperatures are proving the perfect weather for the pests.
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One plant particularly vulnerable to their attacks is the lily-like hosta.
Prince Charles has one of the most famous collections in the Stumpery at Highgrove House. But rather than using pesticides, the Prince, a leading advocate of organic gardening, relies on song thrushes and hedgehogs to eat the pests.
Among methods suggested by the RHS to control the pests are microscopic worm-like creatures known as nematodes. These enter the slug’s body and infect it with a fatal disease. The RHS also recommends using slug pellets. Matt Shardlow of conservation group Buglife said: “There are many species of snails and slug in Britain and only a few cause problems in the garden. We would strongly discourage the use of chemicals. These can be as devastating to innocent slugs.”
Sunday Express gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh said: “Snails are eating machines but they don’t so much bite as lick. The rough sandpaper-like tongue scrapes tender leaves against the roof of their mouth, rasping them away. And don’t imagine throwing them over the garden fence is a way of getting rid of them, they do have a homing instinct.”
For more information, go to www.alantitchmarsh.com