Thankfully, there are plenty of stress-free plants that are rarely plagued by pests and diseases. If slugs are your nemesis, grow woolly-leaved stachys and pulmonaria, tough-leaved eryngium and crocosmia, and poisonous aconitum and foxgloves. Slugs also slide past ferns, grasses and roses, and seem to dislike several aromatics (including lavender). But every garden is different, and for the standard advice given – such as rudbeckia being slug-proof – there will be gardeners who widen their eyes and shake their heads, being unable to grow rudbeckia in wet summers when some of the slugs reach 4in (10cm).
Those who successfully grow the plants they love have their own trusted arsenal. Some go to the trouble of concocting a garlic brew that they spray on their hostas or placing beer traps among their dahlias every evening. Others provide nest boxes for slughungry hedgehogs. Nursery owner Claire Austin lets her silkie hens roam the garden to hunt slugs.
Create a healthy soil
Whatever your enemies – from rabbits to footballs – there are plants to foil them. Aphids dislike the aromatic leaves of nepeta and marigolds, so these can be dotted through borders, and both attract hoverflies whose larvae eat aphids. Ceasing to use chemicals will increase the amount of other aphid predators, such as ladybirds, as well as creating a healthy soil that will help to stave off disease.
Denne historien er fra August 21, 2021-utgaven av Amateur Gardening.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra August 21, 2021-utgaven av Amateur Gardening.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
To dig or not to dig?
Should we be carrying out a full dig on plots now? Bob considers the pros and cons of the 'autumn dig' debate
The box ball blues
As if his beleaguered box hadn't already taken a beating, Toby now has to deal with some hungry box caterpillars
Save your own seeds
Masterclass on: seed saving
Strange sightings
Three unusual insects turn up in Val's garden in one day
A bolt from the blue!
Cornflowers are perfect for garden and vase
Winter moth prevention
Ruth shows you how to avoid maggoty tree fruits
Create a winter container
There are as many options as in summer
Lightweight gardening tools
AS well as being good for our mental health, gardening is also great exercise.
Autumn price round-up
AG finds better bargains in lesser-known brands
Rudbeckias
Rudbeckias are ideal for sunny summer patios and borders, with some able to survive our coldest winters