Back in September 2002 I wrote this article about snails. 2002 has surely been the year of the snail (or hodnedods as the locals call them) for there has certainly been a plague of them in my garden at Barton Bendish. Garden snails prefer chalky soil so perhaps those of you living in the parish of Beachamwell with its sandy Breckalnd soil are spared much of their unwanted attentions. The other day I saw at least a dozen attached to the stem of one hemlock plant in the roadside verge near to the village and garden plants have been disappearing at an alarming and expensive rate. It is very frustrating and I finally had to resort, against my better judgement, to some well concealed slug pellets. Thrushes love snails to eat which they bash on paths and stones to break the shells and feed on the tasty morsel inside (ugh). Thrushes are decreasing in number and I have no desire to do anything that would harm them or deprive them of their food. Slug pellets can be lethal to dogs if they eat them so great care has to be taken with their use. Other methods of dispensing with slugs and snails are to put salt on them or catch them in traps baited with beer. No doubt there are also many other tried and tested remedies.
There are several species of snails living in Britain both on land and in fresh water. The largest of the water snails is the Great Pond Snail which has a spiralling shell and can grow to 2 inches (5cms) in length. It eats both vegetable and animal matter and has been known to attack newts and small fish. It is common throughout Britain in larger ponds and also sometimes occurs in canals and slow flowing rivers.
The largest land snail is the Roman Snail which can reach nearly 2inches (4.5cms) in both length and breadth. It is local on chalky soils in southern areas and hibernates in winter. It was in fact resident in Britain before the Romans arrived and is the species eaten in France as the Escargot. The Common Snail is widespread and is the species that infests gardens, chomping its way through the vegetation. It does not occur north of the Moray Firth in Scotland and is greatly affected by pollution so I suppose it’s one consolation that we must live in a comparatively pollution free area. It also hibernates in winter. Another common species is the Grove Snail. Snails found in Britain differ greatly in size, some are very small indeed. Even those of the same species vary in the colouration and patterning of their shells.
Footnote: One winter a few years ago I found literally hundreds of large snails hibernating among the exposed roots of a tree on the side of a dyke. Rats that were also living there had been feasting on them. Last summer we suffered little damage in the garden – whether this was because of last winter’s severe weather or maybe it was because it was such a dry year for snails like damp conditions.
For those readers who enjoy Jill Mason's excellent monthly ‘Countryside Notes’, you may be interested to know that she has written two books. ‘Townies Guide to the Countryside' and 'The Hare'. They are available from Jill (01366347928); at all good bookshops or direct from the Publishers Merlin Unwin Books 7 Corve Street, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1DB: 01584 877456 or www.merlinunwin.co.uk
The stunning photos are by David Mason , Jill’s husband.
The Townies’ Guide is on offer at a special price of £10 and The Hare is on sale for £20
However, what ever Mother Nature has in store for us, we gardeners always have to look to the future, which means conforming as closely as possible to our normal activities. Outside work in the coming month will depend entirely upon weather conditions. When they are favourable take the opportunity to clear any old debris from around herbaceous plants and also any remaining leaves from last season. Both the debris and the leaves are excellent hiding places for slugs and other undesirables. I was quite amazed last week, at the number of tiny slugs that were in evidence when I cleared up some leaves that had collected along the edges of my flower borders. I cannot remember seeing so many before. Obviously, the warmer conditions of late have also benefited the slug population!
If you have dahlia tubers in store have a look at them to ensure there is no evidence of rot or mildew. The latter can often just be the result of dampish conditions and can be cleaned off with a dry, rough cloth. Rotten areas should be cut cleanly away and the remaining tubers dusted with flowers of sulphur. If you don’t want to use the latter then lift out the affected tubers and carefully dry them off before retuning to store. Look carefully at any plants you have in the greenhouse, and outside for that matter, as the recent unusually mild conditions have been ideal for aphid growth and the old enemy botrytis, as noted in my last article. If you have pots of dormant fuchsias, chrysanthemums or similar in your greenhouse and want to take cuttings from them next month, now is the time to bring them up onto the staging, clean them up, removing any dry or damaged sections and give a light spraying with water to encourage new growth. If we get a dry period in the month then that provides a good opportunity to scarify the lawns if they were not done last autumn. It is also the ideal time to apply a dressing of sharp sand if you have a heavy, wet type of soil, or if you have a very light soil a dressing of a mixture of loam and peat (50/50), brushed gently into the surface of the lawn.
For those who have the appropriate facilities, February is generally considered as the start of the seed sowing season. I like to sow my greenhouse tomato seed in the first week of the month following on in the second with things like antirrhinums, fibrous rooted begonias, geraniums and lobelia. I also like to get any new or replacement herb seeds in at this time so that they can then be potted up and grown on to give them an early start outside as soon as conditions permit. If you are growing onions for the show bench then they ought to be in by now but if not already sown then they need to go in at the earliest opportunity, as explained in an article some twelve months ago.
Generally speaking, this month our work is governed by the weather, let us hope it is not too cold.