How Do I Keep Slugs Off My Hostas?

Hostas are beautiful varieties of plantain lilies grown mainly for their impressive foliage. They also flower in summer. Their slender tall flower spikes usually blossom with white or pale mauve bell like flowers. They can be variegated or plain green in leaf colour. Most leaves have distinctive ridges which swoop from base to tip adding to their striking appearance. With so much of their appeal resting on their foliage the impact of serious slug attack can be devastating. In the worst case scenario the plants never fully emerge from winter dormancy as the tender shoots are eaten away as soon as they emerge from the soil. Poisonous slug pellets, bought from the garden centre and scattered around each plant, provides temporary respite. But these pellets are dangerous to children and other wildlife including fantastic slug eaters such as hedgehogs and many birds. Some gardeners rely on nightly slug hunts, killing their prey or hurling them into nearby fields. Others use beer traps, crunch eggshell around the plants and some swear by a tangle of human hair to protect their hostas. Slug killing nematodes can be bought but they are costly as are copper rings to circle your plants. One solution is to only grow hostas in pots. A thick smear of petroleum jelly round the pot rim seems to work.