Gardeners stunned by £1.50 household product that repels slugs overnight
WHAT a year it has been for snails.
Even the RHS has admitted it’s a bumper season. Entomologist Hayley Jones said: “A cooler than usual June has left little room for gardens to dry out, providing favourable conditions for these much-maligned molluscs.”
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And what’s worse, many of the old classic remedies like beer traps, copper rings and slug pellets don’t seem to help much.
Step Forward Garden Expert Michael Griffiths – AKA The Mediterranean Gardener – who has a golden tip to keep snails away.
Mix salt with everyday petroleum jelly – then rub it around the rims of your jars, or any hard edges. Simple – but genius.
Michael, 39, from Bristol, told me: “The usual methods of deterring slugs are woollen sheets, roundworms or copper.
“But copper needs to be polished to maintain its shine and remain effective, and who has time for that?
“And the rest just didn’t seem to work this year.
“I saw this method online and thought I would give it a try. And it seems to work.
“Instead of killing them – which doesn’t happen, because the area isn’t littered with snail bodies – it seems like they’re actually changing direction.
“And you use too little salt to damage the soil.
“It’s definitely worth a try.”
Vaseline is currently on sale at Tesco for £1.50 and Asda Table Salt is just 65p.
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In Veronica’s Column this week
News, offers, competitions and more
NEWS! A rose has been named after rugby legend and Leeds Rhino scrum-half Rob Burrows who died last month from Motor Neurone Disease. There are currently 5,000 adults in the UK living with the condition and £2.50 from every rose sold by Harkness Roses goes to the MND charity he supported.
YouGarden is offering Sun readers a free bottle of rose fertiliser worth £4.99 with every order.
For more information visit www.roses.co.uk/SUNRB and use the code SUNRB or call 0844 502 0014 (calls cost 5p/min plus your network access charge).
Full terms and conditions HERE
NEWS! As a judge for Robert Dyas’ Plant and Pause campaign, I am pleased to announce that the winners of their Community Space competition are St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London.
The NHS dementia team has put forward plans to transform a green space in the hospital into a sensory garden for dementia patients, their carers and NHS staff. They will also grow vegetables in the garden to donate to a community fridge.
Moira Rowan, Dementia and Delirium CNS Team Leader at St George’s, said: “This is fantastic and means our dementia patients can enjoy a beautiful sensory garden full of flowers and plants.”
NEWS! DRAGONFLY week at Exbury Gardens ends tomorrow. The Hampshire Gardens are a ‘hotspot’ for the British Dragonfly Society, where visitors can get up close to the wildlife action on floating pontoons above large dragonfly ponds. For more information visit www.exbury.co.uk/dragonfly-week
TO WIN! TEN lucky readers can win a pair of tickets for the Sunday of Gardeners World Live! Autumn Fair – worth £56 each. The show, featuring all your TV favourites, takes place from 30th August to 1st September at Audley End House and Garden, Saffron Waldon, Essex. To enter, click HEREor visit www.thesun.co.uk/GWAUTUMN for more information. Or write to Sun Gardeners World Live! Autumn Competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Please include your name, age, email address or telephone number. Only for UK residents aged 18 and over. Ends 23.59GMT 27.07.24 Full terms and conditions HERE
TO RESCUE! IF you have a small outdoor space, sometimes you just need a small shovel and Niwaki’s Golden Shovel for £36 is a firm favourite. Or grab a similar Roughneck microspade from Screwfix for £12.99.
THIS WEEK’S TASK Prune back early Geraniums for a second flowering and generally remove spent flowers.
FOLLOW ME! Find me @biros_and_bloom or email gardening@the-sun.co.uk
