What Do They Eat?

Hi Andrew
In my garden in North Ayrshire I don't have too many slugs (3 ponds and loads of frogs and toads) but snails - oh my word! Just today I have taken out into the garden an empty 2 litre ice cream carton filled with salt water and filled it with snails. Despite the salt they have just climbed out. Worst affected here are delphiniums, hostas, day lily, knipohia, lobelia cardinalis, young sunflowers, roscoeas, but they don't touch kirengeshoma or veronicas or agapanthus or meconopsis. Obviously Scottish snails have different taste buds. Lol!

Must be the west coast taste Wendy, here they eat the Kirengeshoma and the meconopsis.
In my garden it's Hostas, Lupins, Echinacea, perennial Lobelia and Delphinium that are most popular. The only sedum they eat here Andrew is S. telephium Chocolate. Now, that one I can understand ;)
The snails, I'm finding them on many plants for the first time this year. I pulled around 15 from a couple of the peonies this afternoon. Odd!

Dahlias are the worst - have given up trying with them. Any succulent looking young seedlings, snails mostly - and they even went for pelargoniums this year, and pulmonarias too. They have shredded a lot of tigridia leaves. They leave geraniums, fuchsias daylilies and catmint alone. alone.

I'm finding snails on any and most plants - lurking with intent!
However, they munch on Lupins, Delphiniums, Dahlias, Clematis flowers and any luscious seedlings in the greenhouse, except Centranthus. I find them in wall niches, flower pots, and after rain, all over the garden - paths, lawns, you name it. It *IS* a real plague this year, you're right. :-(

Strangely, I don't get many slugs. In the day time, I collect the snails and they go for a swim in the stream, but at night I simply tread on them. They don't seem to like that, for some reason!

The only thing they've really gone mad for here are all the dahlias, eaten nearly every one to the ground!!! and certain hostas, oh and my delphinium seedlings but strangely not the bigger plants in the garden.
I was woken one morning though just as it was getting light the bedroom window was open and there was this really freaky noise sounded like really heavy breathing spooky,put the light on and looked out and couldn't see anything till I looked down 4 hedgehogs on the patio they must've been having a coffee morning and a natter lol, so assume they're sorting out the slugs and snails :-)

Send them round, please, Simbad! ;-D

No Babara they're mine!! Lol ;-)
I wonder if you can microchip hedgehogs? lol.

What a relief to read that it was only hedgehogs - thought you had been invaded by heavy breathing snails...

LOL. Heaven forbid! :-O

:~(

That's the stuff of nightmares, isn't it. :-(((((((

A new horror movie for someone to make...YUK!!

Lol now that would have been scary Stera !!! Eeeeek
Amazed no ones thought of that already Barbara I can picture it now lol.

Don't, because you won't sleep, thinking about it. :-X

Just picked this up, we have been plagued with the Arion vulgaris (Spanish slug) for the last few years, they are a devil to get rid of, can take up to 20 pellets.....they even eat each other, and other slugs.
This year has seen an increase in the snail population, which seem to eat whatever they can get their horrible little mouths around, even Gunnera leaves!! just a constant battle between the nasties and me.......

DD - as long as you win (or they'll eat you too!)

That's what I am afraid of!!

I really don't have an issue with slugs in my garden. Why? Because the robins come and gobble them up and the lawn grubs, starlings too.