They're not to everyone's tastes and some gardeners might consider them their worst enemies. I know one of my neighbours hates them with a passion. He patrols his lawn and plucks the dandelion flowers from their stalks before disposing of them carefully. For slugs, he has devised an even more ruthless strategy: he collects them in a bucket and empties the hapless contents onto the road outside our houses so that they get run over!I see slugs and dandelions differently. Goldfinches adore dandelion seeds, and for me that's enough to make me look upon them favourably.
Because of the cheerful yellow flowers (which I secretly like), I can stand at the kitchen window as some of my favourite birds feed just a few feet away. They soon munch their way through a dandelion head and leave a scattering of down on the grass - minus the seeds. It's unquestionable that slugs are unpleasant creatures, but I've forgiven them this year. The reason? A pair of song thrushes has built a nest in my (slug-hating) neighbour's garden. When I look out of the window, there's often a beautifully-spotted thrush hopping across the lawn with a beak crammed full of tiny slugs in the manner of a puffin carrying sand-eels. I'm proud that my slug-filled garden is keeping song thrush chicks fed, and I like watching the goldfinches making short work of the dandelions. Rather than worrying about how to get rid of these pests, I'm hoping that the birds will do the hard work for me...
Well, if there are any slugs left in our back garden ,after the frogs have had their fill, the birds are welcome to them. I found sitting patio pots on top of breeze blocks deters the slugs.
But I was guilty of plucking dandelion heads, and this year went as far as a weedkiller , and we lost all the clover ,daisies, buttercups,shepherds purse,dandelions and others in the back lawn. Husband was very pleased as back lawn was starting to look more like muddy scrub than lawn, I do have quite a few bare patches too reseed.
Question, do any birds eat the frogs that happily hop round eating our slugs'n'snails?
Last year we had goldfinches nesting in tall fir tree out the front. This year great (crested ?) (black & white & red cheek patches)woodpecker has been bringing his fledglings round the back where silver birch is. Where we lived before, one year I left all the fallen apples on the ground from the apple tree, and we were rewarded with a field fare who came to stay as long as they all lasted!
Had to build a retaining wall down the side of our house where the stream is, Dave put in hole for birds nest and it's been used by blue tits both years! How long till I can cut back the Hazel and trim the tree overhangs without disturbing any late nests?
Thankx