I was lucky enough to talk with my good friend Apple yesterday on the phone. We mulled over the "Never-ending winter" and the feet of snow surrounding her home. I briefly mentioned how I live on a wind-whipped hill top and how my snow will probably be the first in the area to go away. However, it seemed just mean to talk about my "greener" condition for very long.Instead the conversation turned to garden pests. In my opinion, snakes are the worst garden pest that there is. After all, there is only one garden pest that can make me leave the garden running and screaming, and quite frankly making a spectacle of myself. However, Apple loves her garden snake because since he's made himself at home under her hosta she has had no more slug damage. (BTW, I will never go near her Hosta again!) I was surprised to hear that she had slugs as my visit to her garden last year revealed lots of beauty and I didn't see a single pest. She then revealed that she has every garden pest imaginable. I was shocked!
We live within a half hour of each other and yet I have never had a pest problem. I've really only seen garden pests in books. Now, I've seen her gardens and we are members of the same garden club. I certainly don't have any more garden knowledge than Apple so what's the difference between her garden and mine?
The only odd thing about my garden is an abundance of salamanders and newts. I've noticed quite a few of the amphibians living in or near my gardens. I've often surprise them when I'm "fixing" the rocks that border my raised beds. But everything I've learned about Salamanders & Newts say they need to live near water. Why are they in my garden then? I have no water features. No swampy area. No bogs. No standing water of any kind. (Although I'm working on that water feature thing~heehee.) So why are they here? And are they my secret weapon to a pest free garden?
After some research (thanks much to NY Falls) last night I have found that salamanders do like to eat slow moving prey like slugs and snails. Never having seen either in my garden though I have to wonder what comes first the slug or the salamander?
