Pavers sorted and yes they are square...

That's looking so neat, Lincs, but I hope you haven't overdone it out there! I also found a slime trail on a tray of Cosmos seedlings ... looked around and found half a dozen tiny snails huddled together on the outside of a bag of Ericaceous compost ... why on earth they chose to be there I don't know! Now they're cuddling up in the brown bin .....

That slug has a name and it's something like "Greedy little B" and its gonna get what it deserves! ...sorry nature lovers! ;) I hate that slab job, but isnt it just so worth the effort? They look great now. But dont you overdo it! :)

Oh, Shirley, we were simultaneous!

Ha ha, Karen, we certainly were! I am looking on GoY whilst waiting for the last piece of ice to de-frost off the freezer ... very tempted to bash it with something solid but must resist that thought.

I use a hair-dryer on mine - that is ice, not slugs!

Your pavers look good, Lincs. Mine need doing, it's amazing how quickly the grass encroaches, isn't it? I often use a large pair of scissors, and slice my way through the thatch. It's fairly hard going, but I prefer it to using the half moon, because I'm apt to cut too much away.

I disposed of a dozen lily beetles today, all out of one pot of lilies. I think I hate them even more than I do slugs!

and the war on slugs begins lol great job on those slabs Lincs, set me thinking I haven't really seen many slugs so far! normally there everywhere and snails the size of eggs yuck :/

A hair-dryer? I wish I'd known that an hour ago! All done, switched back on and food returned to it. When I used to garden for my Mum, I always used scissors to cut round the seven circular pavers!

Sorry Lincs, hijacking your blog! .....

Karen the language when I first went into the g'house is certainly not permitted on here, I'm not keen on doing the pavers either, which is how come I took a break to bath Brynner halfway through, oh and a coffee went down well whilst throwing his sausage for him, I don't like to use hairdryer on him, so encouraged him to run about....

Melchi I always use the hairdryer on our freezers, takes too long otherwise, bowls of boiling water too start the process but I get fedup of refilling them,lol.
Its early for lily beetles isn't it, I usually only see any once they start to flower I hate them with a vengeance., my halfmoon tool will get used when I eventually get around to doing the edge along the patio walls, I only do it once a year just to clear a space then I use the strimmer...

Hiya Vic, I rarely see any slugs because we have lots of frogs and they take care of them for me, now the snails are altogether a different story, there are hundreds of the beggars, now if they stay amongst the stones that edge my beds and rockeries they just might survive, however once they are spotted wandering then its the Order of the Boot, I'm not nice I don't collect them up for the bin and if I chuck them over my fence they always return and bring their flipping pals with them, lol...

Oops sorry Shirley you were first, lol and you don't need to apologize, I don't mind, anyway its fun when blogs go off on a tangent.
Now you know what I'm like, once started there's no stopping me, I am being fairly good, tackling the harder jobs different days and as it poured all day yesterday I was able to rest up a bit.
There was no way I was sharing my Cosmos or my cucumbers with any kind of slime maker, I was mad enough at the state of my sweetpeas, I honestly don't know how they dare encroach in my g'house space, its definitely war, lol....

I have to do this to our paving slabs/stepping stones too! and then buy more for across the ponds front edge as a path!! great job and don't overdo it!

As for slugs and snails (I hate them too, just looking at them makes me feel sick) fortunately we too have plenty of frogs to help eradicating them, along with the crows!!

Hairdryer on freezer, definitely. Come to think of it...would work on slugs also! ;)

LOL, thats so true but the cable would be bind amongst the flowers...

Dan you'll never have any money you know, there's always something one has to buy when one is a gardener and you sure have caught the bug, lol.
We have pavers on the edge at the front of our fishpond, its so much easier on the knees when the pump needs cleaning out, the back as you have probably noticed is rocks, we used to have a little patio there, our grandchildren spent hours sitting there when they were little but I changed it to the gravel bed when they grew up and decided it was not cool to sit and watch the fish and frogs....

Isn't it? Oh dear, that's me not cool then....

Its been proved they come back like homing pigeons Lincs.....put a dab of paint on , chuck, then wait and see....
Interesting Goy experiment?......

Pavers look great xxx

:)) Pam! :))

Your pavers look very neat Linclass - and how much damage a slug can do - eg. my Amarylis in the greenhouse had produced a large bud - and yes you have guessed the little beastie had climbed up the stem to just below the bud and then took a large chunk out of the stem - so now I have propped it up to stop it toppling over - and yes the slug is in the bin!! I have not seen any lily beetles but I have weevil eggs and white grubs in my primula pots - so guess what the job for the day is going to be !! Jane

? ? ? ? ?

Perishing critturs get everywhere.....?

I saw lily beetles 10 days ago and they eat the leaves well before any flowers. So do be vigilant.

I love to see stepping stones in a lawn and yours are looking so smart now. We have a rather wide flower border and I am just thinking that I could pop one or two stepping stones in that having seen yours.

Your garden is a very pretty one.

A great job well done Lincs! :-)) Looks a 100 times better & it produces satisfaction - though thank goodness I live in a flat & don't have to worry about most things that bother "true" gardeners like you!

Even I don't get off "scott free" as snails still invade our balcony & eat the leaves of my Amaryllis as well! Sometimes a few leaves are eaten to leave nothing more than a thread or two to show where they once were!

Would you believe I found DOZENS of these small white "C" shaped grubs (can't remember what they are called at this moment!) in a hanging basket where I grew my hanging Begonias last year. I wanted to see if the corms had survived the winter, they had, & to see if they had started to grow yet, most hadn't, when I came across them! In another basket there were only a very few & the other 5 baskets I emptied out I didn't find any.

I cleaned off the compost from the corms & potted them up & took them indoors. Now I will need to get new compost for the baskets this summer!

I used to hate the job of lifting the paving slabs each year so don't envy you that task at all but it does look good when it's done. I have some stepping stones among the flower beds for when I am searching for foraging tortoises in the summer :)

The pavers look nice and neat Sue.....it always make such a difference doing that. Ours were done a month or so ago but need doing again.Why does the grass grow stronger around the pavers? I've never worked that one out!

I have thought about placing a few pavers in my beds but to be honest I never remember to do it at the right time, my trusty long handled fork gets used each time I've stepped amongst the plants, its good actually as it helps keep the weeds at bay, my favourite gardening tool by far..
I did find lily beetles in one of my pots so gotta keep my eye on the rest and I've at last got around to redoing my three- tiered heuchera pot, pleased to say there were no signs of anything untoward in that one, its heavy so I have it stood on one of the little wheeled bases, I think thats possibly why they do not get into that one, also it has a drip tray underneath the bottom pot....

Paul you want to see the difference in our lawns, the top nearest to the house already needs cutting again, down the bottom its only shot up underneath the plum tree, do not understand why it doesn't do the same under the apple tree..

Very strange!