Seeds - we start the season by protecting the seed trays from slugs and snails. We put a few Slug Rings on the greenhouse staging as short pillars supporting a board to make a slug and snail free area for the seed trays.

Seedlings - slugs and snails have thousands of rasping teeth, but they like their food soft and tender, so they prefer the fresh growth of young shoots above all else. Therefore we put Slug Rings round seedlings as we transplant the young plants into the beds. In dry weather the rings act as small reservoirs, making for more efficient watering of your plants.

Hardy herbacaeous perennials - some of these, such as lupins, delphiniums and salvias, are notoriously vulnerable to slug and snail attack. We protect these plants with a large Slug Ring for the whole of their lives. When the plant dies down at the end of the summer, we leave the ring in place. This marks the position of the plant so it doesn't get accidentally damaged during winter border maintenance, and ensures that the new spring shoots will be protected from the moment that they appear. At the end of winter we make sure the ring is still in place, rub off any soil that has stuck to it and clear any dead leaves and debris from in and around the ring.

Hostas - these are a particular case. They are loved by slugs and snails and we grow them inside large rings, or if it is a particularly large plant, inside two rings joined together to make one very large ring. However, once the leaves get going, some hostas are so low growing and pendulous that they grow over the ring and touch the ground on the outside of the ring. This will make a bridge for slugs and snails, so we trim the long lower leaves back, or make wire supports to hold the leaf tips clear of the soil, making sure the legs of the support are within the ring.

Pot Plants - we protect these with a ring around the base of the plant or you can stand the whole pot inside a Slug Ring.

Climbing Plants such as clematis and sweet peas - these need protecting with small rings when they are young. Make sure that poles they are being trained up are inside the ring.

For more about Slug Rings see How to use Slug Rings