I have been thinking about my Hosta plants…

We have a north facing corner against the house…

Where I grow shade lovers including Epimedium x Rubrum, Ferns, Buxus and Hosta in pots. Looking good eh! Yet for how long?

June 2016 Our Garden@19

Now I am very fond of Hosta, although as all gardener’s know so are…

Mollusca

I have tried all the usual treatments, grit, old wool, organic approved slug pellets, a garlic drench that was recommended by a national collection holder, none of them were 100% effective. We always ended up with shredded leaves.

Other gardens visited appear to manage:

The Dutch…

A friends open garden in Malvern…

An NGS open garden in Worcester…

Prince Charles’s National Collection at organically gardened Highgrove (No photography allowed.) However this is…

Hosta ‘Prince Charles’

So I have built a wall!

Now I know what you are thinking, especially you Cathy at Rambling in the garden, call that a wall!

It is said that molluscs will not cross copper because it administers a small electric shock. my defensive wall is wooden, artfully painted in ‘Ivory’ to complement the white furniture, topped with self adhesive copper strips sold for the sole purpose of repelling the Hosta enemy. A second defence is small sharp grit just in case the mollusc parachute regiment drop in!

It appears to be working, although, at this time of year it is generally too cold for both the enemy and the gardener..

Early shoots of promise?

What defences do you find works in your garden?