Plant Doctor Archive

Slug-resistant plants

Could you please give me ideas on plants that flower all seasons and are hardy, like daisies. I have created a garden around a new house. Having dug the soil, put river sand and rotted leaves in, I am now having trouble with slugs eating my plants. I don't want to put slug pellets down as it kills the little birds that eat the snails and slugs (which are living in the mulch). I have decided to grow only slug-resistant plants.

THERE are myriad plants that you can choose from, but few will flower continuously for 12 months. Most plants only flower for a season (3-5 months), then go back to vegetative growth while they regenerate themselves for another flowering.

I am not sure if your garden is in a sunny or shady area, but some plants to try include: cosmos, spider plant, poppies, calendulas, daisies, euphorbias, felicia (kingfisher daisy), lavender, catmint, ornamental grasses, natives, fuchsias, nandina and lily of the valley (pieris).

Deterring slugs and snails is a hard job, and there are other things you can use if you don't want to use slug baits. You can lay down salt, eggshells or sawdust, or use snail houses to collect the pests for disposal. tilisers will help the plant over spring and summer. You could use Yates Thrive Flower and Fruit to add some potash to the soil. It may pay to persevering with your tree, but you may have to leave it to do its own thing.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.