Snails

[busybee53]

Now I have got my bees nearby they have pollinated my plum tree well and there are loads of baby plums. I have fixed up a plum moth trap - which worked well for me last year. I just went to check on it and found loads of mountaineering snails right up in the tree. I took off those I could reach but am wondering what else to do. Not sure how to get slug pellets into the canopy. Definitely don't want pellets on the ground where the dog will get them and prefer not to use them at all if I can think of another option. Does anyone else have this problem? Or any ideas?

 

[Luminos]

Copper tape around the base of the trunk?

 

[VEG]

yep copper tape works or a bucket of sand around the trunk.

 

[REDWOOD]

Denzil tape around the trunk, stops ants too

 

[For want of a better word]

Small electric fence?

 

[alanf]

Traditional way to stop moth larvae climbing trunks is a greaseband. A ring of greaseproof paper tied around the trunk smeared with a ring of sticky grease about 5cm / 2in or more wide. Grease for the purpose is in tins at tradtional ironmongers or better garden centres. It would stop snails and other crawlers too.

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=518

 

[busybee53]

Greaseband is great if
1. you can get hold of one
2. the tree was not so close to other trees which means insects etc can find
another route up.
I recon the copper will be good though because snails are a bit heavy to go from leaves on one tree to leaves on another.

This is what I get for squashing too many trees into a small garden. They are cordons though.

 

[Hedgehog]

Smear a ring of Vaseline round the trunk?

 

[parkranger]

Smear a ring of Vaseline round the trunk?

Does that get rid of snails too?

 

[meetballuk]

long term option get a pond going near by we had loads of frogs sporn this year and slug and snail very low compared to last year, also trying to attract birds that eat snails bit of bird food dnt cost much

 

[cliveystb]

Denzil tape around the trunk, stops ants too

I would have never thought about using the horrible stuff on trees........that said it's only horrible when you come to take it off.

I now know what im going to put on my peach tree this year

 

[psafloyd]

yep copper tape works or a bucket of sand around the trunk.

Crushed eggshells. It's what I use around tender plants as I don't like slug pellets, not even the 'bio' ones...

 

[busybee53]

Meetballuk. Yep I got a pond right next to the tree. Absolutely full of toadspawn every year and loads of toads. Thousands actually.

I'm told they are officially protected so I am kind to them but they don't need protection here. We don't get any frogs any more. I think the toads have driven them out.

This year has been so cold they are only just growing their legs and it is ages since the fish have been able to have all the fish food to themsleves. Greedy toads.

Although the toads are protected my pond is far too small for all of them to come back to the following spring. Probably just as well the local cats don't know that they are protected. That cuts the number down a bit.

 

[Chris Luck]

Glow worms for slugs and snails, the larvae eat loads of them.

Chris

 

[busybee53]

If only we still got glow worms around here. My mother remembers them from the 1930s. I have never seen one. Has anyone else in London/Essex?

 

[Luminos]

Funnily enough, OH found a glow worm last night

 

[Silex]

Slug/Snail Traps are brilliant. Take an empty plastic lemonade/coke bottle, cut the base off around 6 to 8 inches high and sink it in the soil so the top is about flush with ground level. Two to three inches of cheap rubbish beer in the bottom (if you home brew use the dregs from the barrel) or take a two litre empty bottle to your local pub and ask the landlord if he'll empty his slop trays from his pumps into it for you to take home.

Set several of these traps and you will be surprised. Slugs and snails are drawn to the traps like magnets.

 

[dclewis]

Glow worms seen each year here in normandy too, but the slugs are too numerous to be troubled by the few glow worms that we have about.

 

[tonybloke]

we put a pond in the garden, filled up with frogs and stickle-backs (as well as water and plants)
now we have a grass-snake summer visitor to the pond (here for 3rd yr) which virtually clears out all of the frogs.

 

[Chris Luck]

You could try them deep fried in batter - the slugs that is.

Chris