I’ve been quite surprised this spring at how few slugs and snails there are in my garden. I know it’s been a cold spring, which will have kept their activity in check , but the hedgehogs have been hibernating so I don’t think they have been particularly voracious.

This weekend while potting up cuttings in the greenhouse I found a whole troop of little slugs tucked into the bottom of flower pots and root trainers, revelling in the greenhouse warmth and the moist compost.
I was surprised just how many clusters of slug eggs there were just beneath the compost surface. Imagine what a feast those little slugs would have had on all my early sown seedlings.

It’s a timely lesson for greenhouse gardeners, as all sorts of pests overwinter in the warmer climes of a glasshouse and a short spell of warm weather, which after all is all we’ve had, is enough to spur them into action, swelling their population in no time at all.
I don’t like killing things, preferring to provide the birds with a seasonal treat of slug caviar laced with the odd adult slug, so the offending clusters were shipped out of the greenhouse and deposited on the patio in full view of my friendly robin. And even if he didn’t munch them all, they will have to take their chances in the colder conditions outside the greenhouse and find safe shelter from the other numerous predators in the garden.

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