One reader wondered how I happened upon beer in the house. My wife and I are not beer drinkers, but there it was, in a cupboard we do not use much.
Many recommend a bowl of beer for slugs. I knew we had plenty from the spring rains - creeks and rivers at flood stage - and a midnight look at their work.
Last night I re-purposed the small roasting pan (birdbath) we dug up from the backyard. I filled the pan with beer and set it out in the straw bale area. At 5 AM I had about 15 slugs in the pan and more crawling to get in.
Some other cures are:
- Grapefruit halves left upside down - they attract slugs and provide a false shelter for the slugs.
- Copper mesh or strips will set up an electrical charge that kills slugs.
- Garlic spray repels them.
- A board or any other temporary hiding place will gather them for disposal in the morning - dropping them into a solution that solves the problem.
- Toads, ducks, and garter snakes. I have seen two of the toads that live at the Jackson Rose Gardens. Clay pot shelters and logs are good for their homes. Flat pans filled with water give them the hydration they need.
New Rose Garden Mulched
Before the weather got really hot and humid, our helper came over to mow one day and mulch the next. We put down newspapers around the maple tree base and covered the area with cyprus mulch. I had thick patches of grassy weeds that are now feeding the soil and compost now.
We planted garlic around the maple tree last fall, so that will be encouraged to grow and multiply - the best all around treatment for roses. Garlic will drive away pests, including slugs, and make the roses healthier.
I planted Sweetheart calladium bulbs in the early spring and never saw a sign of them. Now they are growing up through the mulch under the crepe myrtle and unfurling their colorful leaves.
