Do your Hostas look like Swiss cheese? Slugs could be the slimy suspect.  These nocturnal feeders hide in cool, damp places and are thus often not seen but they can leave a shredded trail of destruction.  Slug damage can be identified by the holes in the leaves.  Slugs typically create oddly shaped holes, and leave the veins on the leaf.  They tend to chew in the middle of the leaf, rather than on the edges. Since they prefer a moist, cool environment they will be more likely to attack plants in a shaded area, but they will eat your gorgeous sun-loving plants as well.  These gastropods can seem to be unstoppable, but McArdle’s has the tools to reclaim your garden.

We recommend Sluggo , an all-natural slug bait.  It is made from iron phosphate, and has been OMRI approved for use in organic gardening. It can be used right up to the day of harvest on edible gardens, ornamental  gardens and lawns.  Simply sprinkle Sluggo on the soil around the plants to be protected.  Reapply every two weeks, or after heavy rain.   We also love Sluggo Plus, which has an added ingredient to combat cutworms, earwigs, sow bugs and pill bugs, as well as slugs!

In addition to treating with Sluggo or Sluggo Plus, you can make your garden less appealing to slugs.  Clear your garden of any leaves, dead plant materials and any logs or other debris.  These are favorite hiding spots for slugs since they stay cool and moist. Choose a mulch with small chips like our Mini Pine Nuggets, or Coast of Maine Enriching Mulch.  These mulches will give the slugs fewer places to hide.

Happy slug-free gardening!

To the one with infinite time to devote to his garden, deadheading is a labor of love that is not in the least burdensome. To most of us, however, despite our love of flowers, the time-consuming nature of deadheading is overwhelming or impractical, often to the point of deterring us from gardening as much as we’d like to. We deadhead to keep our flowers blooming all season, removing old and spent blooms that would pollinate and prevent our flowers from blooming again by fulfilling their flowery purpose. To deadhead the gardener begins by pinching off the stem just below the base of dead flowers. To prevent leaving behind unsightly bare stems, any flower can also be removed just above the first leaf below the flower head.

For those who aren’t able or who prefer not to spend time deadheading, there are many choice flowers that require very little maintenance to beautify a garden! These plants might be sterile, and thus will bloom until frost despite already flowering, or they might just be prolific bloomers  or self-cleaners whose blooms disappear once dead with the help of the elements. We have compiled a list, with the help from our good friends and expert growers at Proven Winners, of such flowers that are at once low-maintenance and beautiful.

Ageratum Artist and Blue Horizon – new flowers will quickly cover the old flowers

Angelonia Angelface – self-cleaning

Angelface Angelonia (tall flower)

Anisodontea Slightly Strawberry – self-cleaning

Argyranthemum – removing old blooms may improve appearance

Bacopa – self-cleaning

Bidens – self-cleaning

Bracteantha Sundaze – removing old blooms may improve appearance

Browallia – little care required

Calibrachoa Million and Superbells – self-cleaning

Chrysocephalum Flambe Yellow – self-cleaning

Cleome Spirit – removing old blooms may improve appearance

Cleome Senorita Rosalita – the plants are seed sterile and self-cleaning

Diascia Flying Colors and Flirtation – self-cleaning

Euphorbia Diamond Frost – self-cleaning

Euphorbia Efanthia, Helen’s Blush, and Kalipso – deadheading won’t keep them blooming longer, however, removing old flowers once the plant has finished blooming will encourage the plant to branch more and the next spring you should see an increase in flowers thanks to a better branched plant.

Fuchsia – self-cleaning

Gomphrena – little care required and blooms all summer

Heliotropium Simply Scentsational – self-cleaning

Heuchera Dolce – prolific bloomers

Impatiens Rockapulco and Infinity – self-cleaning

All of the plants in this container require little, if any, deadheading.

Lamium Pink Chablis – self-cleaning

Lantana Luscious – self-cleaning

Lobelia Laguna and Lucia – self-cleaning

Lobularia Snow Princess – self-cleaning

Mecardonia GoldDust – self-cleaning

Melampodium – blooms forever in the hot season and never needs deadheading

Nierembergia Augusta Blue Skies – self-cleaning

Nemesia – self-cleaning

Osteospermum Soprano and Symphony – new flowers will quickly cover old flowers

Oxalis Charmed – self-cleaning

Petunia Supertunia – self-cleaning – this is not necessarily true of all petunias

Phlox Intensia – self-cleaning

Sanvitalia Sunbini – new flowers will quickly cover old flowers

Salvia Paul, Black & Blue, Indigo Spires, and Victoria Blue – require little attention

Scaevola Whirlwind and New Wonder – self-cleaning

Scaevola

Sedum Garnet Brocade – self-cleaning

Sutera Snowstorm – self-cleaning

Torenia Catalina and Summer Wave – self-cleaning

Verbena bonariensis – Requires little deadheading