'How to'? Keep your Hosta's Protected from Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails are one of the biggest threats to hostas, quickly turning their lush, decorative foliage into a patchwork of holes and ragged edges. Their feeding can damage both leaves and stems, often ruining the plant’s appearance just as it reaches its peak.

While hostas are a particular favourite, these pests don’t stop there. They’ll also feed on a range of other garden plants, but hostas tend to suffer the most noticeable damage due to their broad, tender leaves.

The good news is that you don’t have to give up on growing beautiful hostas. With the right combination of prevention and control methods, you can significantly reduce slug and snail damage and keep your hostas looking healthy and full throughout the season.

Photo by GAP Photography

Cultural / Organic Control

• Good garden hygiene is essential for protecting hostas from slugs and snails. Regularly cultivating the soil around your hostas helps expose both eggs and adult pests to the elements and to natural predators such as birds and frogs. Clearing away fallen leaves in autumn and winter is particularly important, as it prevents slugs from hiding and makes their eggs easier for birds to find and feed on.
• Encouraging wildlife into your garden can make a noticeable difference in reducing slug populations. Creating a diverse planting scheme with trees, shrubs, climbers, or a mixed hedge provides shelter for natural predators that will happily feed on slugs - helping to protect your hostas naturally.
• Surround hosta clumps with coarse materials such as gravel, grit, or crushed eggshells to make movement more difficult for slugs and snails. If growing hostas in pots, place them on rough surfaces rather than smooth ones, and consider adding copper tape around the container to deter pests.

Photo by GAP Photography

• Avoid planting hostas in dense groups where slugs can easily move from one plant to another. Instead, space them throughout the garden to limit the spread of damage and reduce the risk of heavy infestation in one area.
• Simple trapping methods can also help protect your hostas. Sinking shallow dishes of beer into the soil near hosta plants will attract slugs and snails—just be sure to empty and refresh the traps regularly.
• During warm, damp summer evenings, check your hostas and remove any slugs or snails by hand. Relocating them well away from your garden can help reduce repeat damage.
• Finally, barrier products like Lava-Lite No-Slugs can be used around hostas to create a surface that slugs and snails are reluctant to cross, while remaining safe for children, pets, and wildlife.

Biological (using predatory organisms to combat pests)

Nematodes provide an effective, targeted way to control slugs and are harmless to children, pets and wildlife. Living naturally in the soil, these microscopic organisms enter slugs below ground and release bacteria that infect them. As a result, the slug stops feeding within a few days and dies within about a week.

The nematodes then feed on the decomposing slug and reproduce, creating a new generation that continues to target other slugs.

To apply, mix the nematodes with water and water them into affected areas between May and September. For best results, apply in the evening when the soil is warm and moist, as this helps the nematodes remain active and effective.

Chemical

Evenly scatter a light layer of granules around the base of vulnerable plants. For best results, apply on a warm, moist evening when slugs are most active. Always read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions before use.

Other plants slugs and snails love

While hostas are a particular favourite, slugs and snails will also feed on a range of other plants such as delphiniums, dahlias, gerberas, sweet peas and tulips. While in the vegetable patch they commonly target crops like peas, beans, lettuce, celery and even potato tubers.