05-27-2017, 10:36 AM
(Edited Sunday morning, just about the same text as I lost Saturday afternoon)
On the (so far) hottest day of the year, it's nice to have a couple of big pines blocking the sun. I used the lawnmower quite vigorously and got rid of some rather large weed around the layout. Later, Vigdis came by and helped me remove the weed on the layout itself. We also removed the weed cloth and added another 5 bags of soil and 1 bag of compost (which was all I had laying in the garage at the moment), as the old soil had settled and compressed quite a lot in the last three years.
At around 2 PM, the sun had moved around the trees, and it became to hot to work anymore, but here's what it looks like now:
![[Image: 20170527001_w1200.jpg]](http://www.hjemstad.no/images/pics/2017/05/20170527001_w1200.jpg)
I don't know if the Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris) is a problem in America, but here in Norway they are considered a big pest problem, and it's not uncommon for garden owners to pick hundreds of these creatures every day. Luckily, we have never seen any Spanish slugs here, but when I posted the pics of the potted plants on a Norwegian forum, I was strongly recommended to get rid of all the potted soil emediately and use fresh soil instead, as the potted plants were known to carry slugs and/or slug eggs. They even advised me against having the potted plants standing on top of the soil where I had placed them, as the slugs could spread!
Anyway, after digging and removing weed for about 10 minutes, Vigdis suddenly cried out: Slug! I suspected the worst, but to my relief, when I came over and saw the slug, I emediately recognized it as a Leopard slug (Limax maximus); a predator and natural enemy of the Spanish slug! It chases other slugs away from its territory and even eat their eggs, I couldn't have asked for a better "tenant" on the layout!
On the (so far) hottest day of the year, it's nice to have a couple of big pines blocking the sun. I used the lawnmower quite vigorously and got rid of some rather large weed around the layout. Later, Vigdis came by and helped me remove the weed on the layout itself. We also removed the weed cloth and added another 5 bags of soil and 1 bag of compost (which was all I had laying in the garage at the moment), as the old soil had settled and compressed quite a lot in the last three years.
At around 2 PM, the sun had moved around the trees, and it became to hot to work anymore, but here's what it looks like now:
I don't know if the Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris) is a problem in America, but here in Norway they are considered a big pest problem, and it's not uncommon for garden owners to pick hundreds of these creatures every day. Luckily, we have never seen any Spanish slugs here, but when I posted the pics of the potted plants on a Norwegian forum, I was strongly recommended to get rid of all the potted soil emediately and use fresh soil instead, as the potted plants were known to carry slugs and/or slug eggs. They even advised me against having the potted plants standing on top of the soil where I had placed them, as the slugs could spread!
Anyway, after digging and removing weed for about 10 minutes, Vigdis suddenly cried out: Slug! I suspected the worst, but to my relief, when I came over and saw the slug, I emediately recognized it as a Leopard slug (Limax maximus); a predator and natural enemy of the Spanish slug! It chases other slugs away from its territory and even eat their eggs, I couldn't have asked for a better "tenant" on the layout!