How to get rid of garden slugs

Coping with slugs, frost

Jessica Damiano | Garden Detective

March 13, 2008

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Is there a way to get rid of slugs? I'm finding round holes in my hostas.

Chris J., Patchogue

Sluggo and Escar-go! are two products that are quite effective in eliminating slug problems, and both are natural and safe to use around pets. But beer and molasses work, too. Add ¾ inch of either one to a high-rimmed dish and place the dish in the garden under your hostas where slugs hide. Their numbers will dwindle, you'll see.

Can you check the last frost date for Long Island? I am curious as to how one finds this information in such fine detail, such as the center of the Island varying from the shore.

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Mike Murphy, Rocky Point

The answer to your question lies within the USDA hardiness zone map, which is being revised. Although no release date has been announced, the new version reportedly will eliminate the subdivision of zones indicated by a and b, and divide the country into 15 zones instead of 11. The current version is from 1990. You can view it on the National Arboretum Web site (usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html). If you look closely at Long Island, you'll see most of it is in zone 7a, but there's a section in the center of Suffolk that is 6b. The arboretum doesn't have a list of communities that fall into that zone - only counties - but the 6a portion appears to run through the center of the Pine Barrens. Generally speaking, the average last frost date for Long Island is income tax day: April 15. But if we want to split hairs, it's more like April 20 for eastern Nassau and most of Suffolk, about 10 days earlier for western Nassau and 10 days later for the 6b portion of central Suffolk.

My Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry Tree needs pruning. It hangs on the ground. How and when can I prune it? -- Carmella Masem, Medford

To tidy up the tree, just trim all the branches to equal heights immediately after they flower. Dead or diseased branches should be removed, too.