slugs/snails

[sheilag]

Can anyone tell me how to stop slugs/snails, preferably organically, from devouring my newly planted prize clematis?

[shwn29]

Either try the traditional beer drowning or perhaps mix five tablespoons of salt in water and use this as a spray on the slugs themselves.
Cruel but effective?

[Summer House]

I wouldn't put salt near any plants. It will kill most plants every quickly. I tried putting a circle of salt round a plant once that was being hit very hard by slugs and snails and as soon as it rained the plant died. Spraying slugs with salt water is very good at killing them but spray a plant or grass and it will be dead in a few days.
As for your problem I would try doing as Shwn29 says and try trapping them you can buy traps or just try putting out a cup full of beer by the plants you want to protect.

I hope this will help,

Summer House.

[JoyB]

I have bought some pet/child friendly pellets recently and they seem to have done the trick. I also poured salt on the gorund around the bottom of the plant pot :)

[Paul Narramore]

This won't help Sheila with her clematis unless she grows it in a pot but today I attended a garden show and was shown a device called SnailAway (see www.snailaway.com). The consists of self adhesive tape with a pair of metallic strips running along it's length. Then theres a small plastic box into which a smal PP3 battery, even a worn out one (I'm told) is put. The box sticks to the side of the pot, the tape goes around the sides of the pot and passes into the tiny box where a tiny current keeps the slugs away. They are about £5 a time, and after years of struggling to protect my hostas - sharp sand, eggs shells, bunkum.. - Ive been advised to dig up my hostas, throughly wash the roots to make sure there are no slug eggs in there, then replace the plants in pots with fresh clean compost and the SnailAway around the outside.

[Neil Bromhall]

Nematode worms will help control your slug & snail problems. I'm keen to encourage natural pest control rather than using chemicals so I've added nematode worms plus other natural pest control products to the www.complete-gardens.co.uk online shop.
Best wishes
Neil