I put a tiny bit everywhere. (Deadline)
The borders (fence, grass) are important to avoid invasion, and the main thing is to stop them from laying eggs and making more. So you put it down in late fall and early spring when it doesn't look necessary, and whenever you detect a problem.
Dave

When I sprinkle slug bait around my hosta...the safe iron compound stuff...new holes in my hosta stop appearing.
I don't know but I don't think that slugs have sensory organs that would draw them to to a bait from outside of the area. By the nature of the envoirnment in a hosta garden, moist from frequent watering, shady from the large leaves, mulched and often with litter on the ground from the previous year's plants, it makes a perfect place for them to live and grow.
I prefer to kill them where I don't want them to be, rather than seek them out and become mosquito food myself.
I sprinkle a safe bait now and again in about 6 weeks.
Linda C

I have been on this property four years and I have NEVER run across one slug! I'm not complaining mind you I just dont understand it, I am figuring it got to be the type of soil here, it is more sandy, beautiful stuff to do gardening in....my other place had horrible soil and I was fighting the slugs constantly, yes, I am bragging!

dont delude yourself katy .. plant hosta.. slugs will come ...

i had a much bigger problem in the city ... i think the birds are more aggressive out here ... they go through the garden like crazy in spring.. every bit of moss flung over.. leaves thrown around .. etc ... maybe slugs is why i have a dozen nesting robins in the yard ...

i have slugs.. and i have sand.. sand wont stop them ...

watering methods might play a big part ... overhead broadcast water might make an attractive environment.. as compared to drip line lets say ...

and linda.. dont delude yourself that they cant figure out where a good meal is ... why would they cross 3 to 5 feet of cedar mulch.. leaving behind a lush green lawn... to cross the sahara to get to the hosta ... if they are there.. they will find the best meal available ...

and dont get me wrong.. whatever works .. works.... dont change a thing if you are winning the battle ... MY POINT.. if i had one ... was.. think outside the box .. dont fixate on the hosta alone.. they can be coming from anywhere ...

i wonder how far a slug can travel in one night ....??? i am going to post that one at the pest forum ....

ken

How far can they travel? We have snails that hide up in the house eaves,10 feet up, then slide(?) down to munch. For sure they can go across a two car cement driveway, as I can see trails in the morning. Ours are out and eating year around here in California.

I n the right light I can see slug trails meandering across the deck. When I was in florida this winter, I saw a meandering slug trail about every morning across the patio...no rhyme or reason, just a meandering trail.
I think slugs eat whatever they happen to be near, and they hatch near where there is something to eat. I think If I set a bunch of slugs down in the middle of a parking lot, they would starve before they found a way to food.
I like to think they are stupid amoeba-like creatures that just happen upon my garden, not some smart creature that makes a determined effort to travel across field and lawn to find my hosta.
Linda C

They wouldn't starve, they'd dry up and die first. I don't see too many of those smaller brown slugs like I used to when I lived in Michigan, around here are the leopard slugs. I think those are mostly scavengers verses plant eaters because I rarely see slug damage to my plants, but they like cat food, I set some out at night for the cats and see slug trails going to their food. They also like raspberries and mulberries. The boyfriend would pick raspberries and set them down for the slugs, and we watch them munch away on them. And I've seen trails through the grass now that the mulberries are dropping. I find the leopards interesting, the little brown ones annoying. Last year I even caught a pair mating, took pictures just to gross out the BF...lol!

Karen