Slug and Moose Resistant Landscaping

I love hostas. And up 'til now I guess I've been fairly lucky. No rampaging slugs; no nibbling moose. I started to wonder why these two plagues had, for the most part, passed over my Kochu Cove garden.

Slugs are hosta enemy #1. Hostas and slugs share a preference for shady, moist environments. By some good fortune, I seem to have collected "slug resistant" hostas. This is purely accidental or maybe actually, when I think about it, probably the result of more informed nursery people. I knew I wouldn't remember either the common or botanical name - so I just tossed that little plastic tag that came with every one of the hostas I've purchased. Too bad. I'll bet those tags might have indicated that I was picking one of the slug resistant cultivars - which happily, also tend to be the most attractive - and though it may seem socially shallow, when gardening, beauty is my bottom line.

According to Flower Gardening Made Easy, if I had read those nursery tags, I might have noticed that the hostas I selected were labeled "slug resistant," "slug proof," or as having "good substance, " meaning "thick, dense leaves with a good waxy coating" making them somewhat impervious to slugs.

Hostas are generally classified into blues, greens, golds, and variegated.

• The blues that are most slug resistant are: "Elegans, "Krossa Regal," "Love Pat," "Blue Moon," "Blue angel," "Blue Umbrellas," and "Halcyon.
• Slug resistant gold varieties are "Gold Edger" and "Sum and Substance."
• The best slug resistent green varieties are "Invincible" abd Hosta tardiflora.
• In the variegated hostas, try "Reversed," "Shade Fanfare," or "Grand Master."

The blue leafed hostas are alledgedly the most slug resistant of all. Slug resistant - yes, so far; but not moose resistant. This hosta, the only one out of at least 50, was browsed the other night - though delicately - perhaps in a style deserved by so regal a plant.

Unfortunately, maybe the reason that this particular hosta attracted attention is a function of its variety. By deduction (because, as you know, I don't have the nursery tag), I have concluded that this is a "Blue Angel" - one of the largest varieties of hostas. And though you can't tell from the photo, it does out do the others in breadth and height. It's size may be its doom.

Although moose will go down on their knees or spread their legs like giraffes to feed at ground level, they are really built to feed at a certain height. I am betting that the giant "Blue Angel" was exactly the right height for the mooselings and high enough off the ground to be easy pickin's for mama.

But the question remains: why not sample the other 50+ hostas that pepper my landscape? Anchorage moose, at least, find hostas to be so tasty that a blogger for the Anchorage Daily News calls hostas, kale, cabbage, and tulips just before they bloom, "moose bait."

It might be the mint. Evidently, moose seem to hate the smell of mint. Some time ago, in my innocence (uh...ignorance, maybe?), I thought it would be nice to have some mint. I guess I should have limited it to a container. I didn't. It now pops up everywhere. Mint is incredibly invasive - and it may be protecting my beloved hostas. I hope so. It turns out that the moose munched blue is regally by itself - not a sprig of mint anywhere nearby. That will change. But I think what I'll do is put the mint in strategically placed containers this time.

You can find a list of plants, trees, and shrubs that are somewhat resistant to moose browse in the July 2004 issue of Under the Canopy, the Forestry and Forest Products Newsletter of the Alaska Cooperative Extension Service. I can vouch for the fact that moose have not eaten the following from my landscape:

• Columbine
• Larkspur (Delphinium)
• Foxglove
• Iris
• Narcissus, Daffodil
• Tulip (after it blooms)

In addition, I have also seen moose here give a pass to easily accessible Monarda (Bee Balm), Monkshood, Bishopsweed, Asiatic and Oriental Lilies, and Day Lilies. It seems like there are lots of landscaping choices that are not choice moose morsels - that is, if the moose isn't desperately hungry and if there is alternative foraging material - like the enormous field of fiddle head fern that borders the enclave I have carved out of the forest.