When these products state that they are ok for wildlife, I am thinking they mean dogs/cats etc won’t eat the product. The problem lies with killing slugs, as the products do kill the slugs , so they are not harmless at all.
It was always my understanding that the birds feed their young on the slugs that have been poisoned, or the hedgehogs eat them, so the poison goes along the line, causing death to other species .
One good reason why I don’t grow veg, as I can’t see a lettuce being more valuable than a baby hedgehog or a nest of baby blackbirds .
Our allotment shop is selling a different product, pellets made out of sheep’s wool. The idea is to sprinkle them at the base of your crops, water them, then they expand and form a mat that they don’t or won’t crawl over. I’ll get the name of the stuff tomorrow, when it’s open. Or Google it.
Thanks for that Jazzi.
I have read conflicting reports on this wool. Some reckon it works, others say it’s useless.
Any idea if it’s safe it young Gertie pinches a mouthful?
I put a fresh load of gravel round the plants last night - knee deep to a garden gnome it was :-)). Went out and checked just before I went to bed and found snails everywhere again!
I think I might try to lift these dahlias, and replant them in tubs instead, else there is going to be nothing left of them.
JAZZI, a P.S. for you since I posted.
I have just phoned Sarah Raven to find out whether these wool pellets are harmful to dogs.
She said there are no chemicals in them to harm pets, but she did say all she could think of was it may be
if Gertie ate enough of it, to cause a blockage in her.
I have ordered the smallest bag they do as an experiment.
I am slightly worried because they do pong like wet wool she said, and it might be the smell that will attract the dogs.
I shall try one area only and see what happens.
I’ll let you know.
Failing that, how do you fancy a nice little friend for Holly?
Well we use them down the allotment, obviously, but I never gave it a thought that dogs might be attracted to or ate the pellets! To be on the safe side, how about avoiding altogether? But saying that, wouldn’t dogs be attracted to anything in the garden they could get to? Try blocking off her access to where you put the pellets, using guards of some sort.
Yep, Sorry. I didn’t realise that the gardeners above had already mentioned this…sorry ladies.
I have a dog, a Yorkie called Fang der Wunderhund…I use pellets because I grow a lot of dahlias, both in the ground and in pots and never had any problem with the hound eating them.
With regard to pellets, you don’t need mounds of them next to your plants, just a scattering along the bed, plot border or pot.
It works for me, and Fang
If it’s just single plants Mups, my daughter has planted her hostas in metal pots this year. She got fed up of them getting eaten, it’s working well so far!
Fang is thicker than whale blubber…but he has his uses…he broke the fall of my camera this morning, I was taking some shots of the sparras on the bird feeder with a long lens, one leg of the tripod collapsed, camera and lens were stopped from hitting the patio by a sleeping Wunderhund…he was not impressed.
It made him jump but he forgave me. The potted dahlias that were overwintered in the green and only came out at the beginning of this month are doing well, flower heads forming.
The others in the ground are getting quite bushy and about two weeks behind, so not a great deal of difference.
I don’t bother lifting and storing the tubers anymore the winters are warmer now and most of them survive.
I only lift those tubers that I want to propagate from.
[quote=“Rehab44, post: 1735375”]
It made him jump but he forgave me. The potted dahlias that were overwintered in the green and only came out at the beginning of this month are doing well, flower heads forming.
The others in the ground are getting quite bushy and about two weeks behind, so not a great deal of difference.
I don’t bother lifting and storing the tubers anymore the winters are warmer now and most of them survive.
I only lift those tubers that I want to propagate from.
[Mod edit: link removed]
You can see your real name when using google photos rehab.
but he forgave me. The potted dahlias that were overwintered in the green and only came out at the beginning of this month are doing well, flower heads forming.