Posted by: merewoman | May 14, 2008

Gardening tip of the week

Don’t buy copper ribbon that claims to deter slugs and snails from crossing over it and into your vegetables. Having spent several hours carefully clearing the boundary of our vegetable patch, and then fixing down the ribbon neatly all the way around, we watched two snails race each other to see who could reach it first. Once on the ribbon, they both glided serenely along it, like celebrities on a red carpet.

Tonight, after a little rainfall, the place is alive with slugs, none of whom have been at all deterred by the ribbon.

On the other hand, if you believe that it will work for you, I can sell you 50 metres, 35 of which are still in the box they came in. ;-)

Posted in Food and drink, gardening | Tags: , , , ,

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Responses

Our garden is sometimes full of snails and we let them be. They have to live as well.

I will send an e-mail to you soon and tell you everything about the transplant operation. Just now I find the time to blog again and visit other blogs.

By: Netty on May 15, 2008
at 12:33 pm

Hi Netty

I’m SO pleased to hear from you. I have been wondering how you are recovering and if life has changed dramatically since your transplant? I really hope so. Do email me, and let me have your address so I can send you a book.

Re. the slippery ones. The copper ribbon was intended as a humane way of stopping them from eating all our vegetables. We have nearly two acres of land, and they are welcome to eat everything on it, including any flowers - but not the veggies in my small patch. Those are strictly for us! :-) Finding all my tomato plants eaten down to stumps overnight makes me very sad. :-(

I’m very much a “live and let live” person, but sometimes a woman has to take a stand. ;-) So, last night, with regret, it was the beer trap. At least they enjoyed themselves.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Susie

By: merewoman on May 16, 2008
at 10:13 am

If I see any super-chic slugs or snails wearing copper ribbons in their hair, I know where they’ve come from. And you can have them straight back! I admire your tolerance - if I found my tomatoes chewed down to stumps I’m not sure I’d be so understanding - and I certainly wouldn’t buy them a drink. I will post pics of my poppies when they emerge - and my lovely Phlomis, which is flowering for the first time.

Mya x

By: Mya on May 16, 2008
at 9:00 pm

I don’t think, Mya, that any of our gastropods will make it to you - they are all too busy at the pub. ;-)

Looking forward to the poppies; not familiar with a phlomis - it sounds vaguely genital. :-)

By: merewoman on May 16, 2008
at 10:53 pm

Hello merewoman! I was going to leave a comment to tell you about beer traps. But you know about them. Best possible way to do away with slugs!

By: Lis of the North on May 21, 2008
at 8:57 pm

Thanks, Lis. Yes, it’s working very well, thank you. Bit nasty to look at though, but not as ugly as a whole row of plants eaten down to stalks :-)

By: merewoman on May 23, 2008
at 3:08 pm

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