Bohemia Village Voice

Tabitha Rampling writes (Mar 2009)

My mother, in a desperate attempt to save her hosta from the ferocious appetite of slugs & snails (without resorting to pesticide) potted it up into terracotta. She placed the pot on a large saucer filled with water to act as a moat. She then placed the pot and saucer on top of another downturned pot. Still they arrived and feasted, leaving the skeletal remains to mock my poor mother’s efforts.

So where were the blighters coming from? It was a mystery that baffled us for days. Then a nonchalant glance above revealed their cunning tactic. They were shimmying up a nearby shrub that over hung the hosta and simply dropped from above! Much as we admired their ingenuity we still dispatched them swiftly into their next life. For this we used a quick organic method involving a stout boot.

Yours.

Tabitha Rampling, Upper Park Road.

Letter forwarded to Dave Kent of ‘Gardeners’ Questions’.