Are there any plants slugs and snails DON'T like?

Melissa22_Mum

Hi all,

I'm not an avid gardener I know a fair bit but by no means an expert!

I bought some plants from Asda, probably shouldn't have but couldn't afford to spend loads and bought on impulse.

I bought some Champion blue and Lobelia, the snails and slugs don't seem bothered with the Lobelia but have munched their way through the Champion Blue!

I only planted one of each as we have a clay soil and I wasn't sure if they would do well. I planted some in a pot and I've left the rest to see which is best before I plant them anywhere permanently. Before I dole out anymore on plants I'd just be interested to know which plants would be less favourable to the little !!!!!!s. If the Lobelia stays largly untouched I may as well buy more.

Any opinions?

I just hope that they weren't saving the Lobelia for pudding as the Champion Blue was the tastiest one.

Missli

Put a trail of salt around them. I resorted to this method after finding my dogs food bowl heaving in slugs in the early hour one night (must like dog food!). Was like something out of a horror film.

What prevented them coming in my old house (mid-terraced quaint Victorian property) was getting the cheapest salt I could buy, and sprinkling a thin trail around my outside walls to the kitchen every night. A bit odd-looking, but better than slimy trails.

Melissa22_Mum

Yes they did this with our cat bowl they love dried food aswell! I don't fancy putting salt on the soil though for the ones planted in the garden.

Plus they go all dry and wrinkly, don't fancy picking them up! They seem to attack at night/early hours as you've said. I've got the potted plants on a table so they can't get to them but the blue in the soil has been munched completely.

ljonski

Forget the salt.
there is biogradable slug repellent(harmless to birds) you can buy.
or I have a frog living in an old 2kg margerine tub that i buried in the garden who does a great job.-but keep any amphibians away from salt.!

blossomhill_2

If you want slug-proof blue go for "Johnson's blue" hardy geranium - lovely plant will come up year after year so very economical and slugs just don't care for it

rubberbiscuit

Ive investigated this too as slugs seem to eat anything I put in my garden! Apparently ornamental grasses, ferns, fuschsias, lavender, rosemary, geraniums and sedums are supposed to be slug proof.
I can vouch for lavender, ferns, rosemary, sedum and grasses.....although the grasses sadly arent dog proof and have been munched on!

oldtractor

We are plagued with slugs here. They are dreadful. They dont like anything of the onion family so Aliums chives etc are ok.They seem to leave auriculas alone too. Batchelors buttons and Centuria [Knapweed].sedum. golden rod. lily of the valley .hardy geraniums all seem ok.

elsien

On the annuals, try bizzie lizzies and snapdragons.
Off the top of my head as well - jacobs ladder, penstemons, lavatera, geums. If I'm not sure, I make a cheap copper ring by putting copper tape round a section cut from a pop bottle - once they get big enough they stand up to slug damage better.
They also leave my lilies alone, although I do have the dreaded lily beetle instead.

Things like lobelia and delphiniums don't stand a chance in my garden.

theGrinch

if you do 2 dark after sweeps each week for the next 4 weeks you will eliminate hundreds for the most hungry blighters. any found can be dropped into a container with a lid and with or without soapy water (seems to kill them quickly)

Wig

Foxgloves
Monks Hood/Wolfsbane
Sidalcea
Sedum
Lavender
Hardy Geraniums
Snow in Summer
bleeding hearts
Kaffir Lily
Granny's Bonnet
Flag Iris
Siberian Iris
saxifrage
Penstemon
Rose
Anenome Japonica
Circium Rivulare (once it has survived one year it will carry on regardless of slugs attacking it)

All these plants do well in my garden, I don't bother with slug killers, I work on the principle if it survives, it stays, and there are LOADS of slugs and snails in my garden, some of them are innocent and they just eat whatever they are finding on a wall - they crawl around the wall all night and don't even go near a plant, they must be finding something there to eat

REEN

Slugs and snails don't eat my siberian iris but they do nip through the flowering stems. I go out just before dusk and pick them off using a long handled grabber which has plastic grips on the end. It grips the slug or snail and slides it off without damaging the leaf. Then I squish 'em and leave them for the hedgehogs to finish off.