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...
Thanks for leaving comments, everyone. It's great to hear about your wildlife-friendly gardens.
Bunny, it would probably be wise to wait until the breeding season is definitely over before cutting back any trees. If you wait until late August, that would be safe.
Petehutch, I'm not sure why birds don't like eating big slugs. The thrushes definitely only took the small, white ones. Maybe the bigger ones are too tricky to handle!