Last year we created garden beds at the entrance of our home.
It was about time; before doing so, you would have never guessed that landscapers lived here!
Thanks to a very large maple tree, the area gets a ton of shade, and so we planted a variety of hostas among other shade loving plants like Aucuba japonica, Rhododendron eximium, and Dicentra spectabilis.
Our hostas began to push out of the ground a few weeks ago, and while none of them have totally leafed out, a few already wear the signs of slug damage.
One must be vigilant when protecting her hostas from slugs! And I am determined to win this battle.
After all, this is what I want to see…
photo courtesy Fransen Hostas
Not this.
photo courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden
So what to do?
After searching on YouTube for answers, I found a woman espousing her technique of combining ammonia and water to use on her hostas.
She claims that the concoction – 1 part ammonia to 4 parts water – when poured directly onto her hostas as they shoot out of the ground, will kill slug eggs at the base of the plant and prevent slugs from eating the hosta’s foliage.
Once her hostas have totally leafed out, she continues to use the concoction, though reduces the amount of ammonia by 10%. With all the rain we get here, I may be out in the garden a few times a week to tend to my hostas.
Between this new trick and Sluggo, I aim to win.
—
Thanks for reading our blog. Northwest Construction & Landscape, LLC is a Kitsap County landscaping company that offers landscaping, decorative concrete and lawn maintenance services to homes and businesses across Kitsap and Pierce counties.