Try the other way round, it will be much much quicker. They don't like old tough or hairy leaves. Anything else they will try in my experience.

Brian

New dahlia and delphinium shoots.

Basil. A snail got into my greenhouse and decimated the seedlings last year at the same time as the tagetes. I find they do just as well if not better on an indoor windowsill anyway and it's not so far to go when I want to pick leaves for cooking!

OH god, list of all the things I can't grow...

Lobelia cardinalis, lupins, delphs, impatiens, petunias, alstromeria, lilies....

They don't seem to eat weeds...

They can have my alstroemeria, I'm sick of it, weedy orangey thing that it is!

Cactus, particularly Opuntia sp.

It depends. I'm sure it does.

I bought a Delphinium that was exceedingly potbound. I potted on and placed it on the doorstep to get it's breath back. Of all the things growing there, the Slimy Brigade made for that Delph and munched it to near-nothing.

I put it out of reach and strewed the way with sharp sand. The Delph resprouted. I planted it out when it looked more the thing - and it hasn't been touched since.

I do not use any baits at all. I have a small team of blackbirds and thrushes but the Slimies are only on the menu at a certain point in the child-rearing cycle.

From my own experience Hosta etc are no more at risk than anything else - in this garden, on this soil. Which leads me to think that it is a combination of soil and plant health, and timing of planting, that brings out the jackals of the plant environment.

i put out saucers with beer in them every once in a while and the slimy little jerks crawl in them and drown.
seriously.

Vetivert, you're right - they seem to be a bit unpredictable. I bought a pachysandra on impulse, then checked it in my big book and was dismayed to find it labelled 'prone to slug damage'. Planted it out, not one hole in it so far. - One clematis is thriving, another just a couple of fence panels up the garden is being attacked.

I bought three phlox, expensive named varieties, all of which they devoured. Interestingly though, they have never touched the established plants that I've had for years and they weren't interested in the white phlox that I bought in a charity shop for 50p.

Also, they destroyed my brand new geranium 'Ann Folkard', but again they've never touched any other hardy geranium. I don't know whether plants are more tasty straight from the garden centre, perhaps the foliage is a bit more tender.

Well Moriati, they ate some of my Opuntia, and also my variegated Horseradish,but l am almost frightened to say this,but there are not so many slugs and snails, this year, as there have been in past years,but that doesn't mean there aren't any at all,but they have been replaced by rabbits, as number one pest here.

I only use ash from the fireplace and it works a treat. I also use it around all my lettuce and beans in the greenhouse.

I prevent the slug population from getting to your favourite plants in early spring, and end up with lovely plants and foliage without holes!

The slugs and snails have never touched any of my geraniums, Anyanka, but they devour Anthriscus Sylvestris "Raven's Wing". It hasn't emerged at all this year, so I assume they have succeeded in destroying it completely. It's strange, as the ordinary wild cow parsley with green leaves seems immune to the munching gastropods.