Hi there, I'm new to this site, and new to gardening. We have two (one large one small) raised beds, a huge lawn, and a small 'rockery' type area.

The beds are just soil/stones and at the moment I'm not doing anything with these, so I have recently bought my first ever plants! A potted lavender and a cordelyne. They look lovely at either side of my front door.

However, the cordeline is looking sorry for itself with the lower leaves fading and dying. Question 1: Does this happen? I have only had it 3 weeks.

I have been watering both in the evenings while the weather has been dry.

Also, having discovered 2 slugs and a snail in the lavender pot, I have started to look for more and discovered hundreds!

So tonight I've been looking on here and on other sites for the best (most effective) way of getting rid of slugs and snails. Before the light faded completed, I went around my lawn and picked up about 30 slugs/snails into a bucket, sprinkled a little salt on them, and then poured soapy water on them. Then I emptied the bucket down the drain in the road outside.

Question 2: Is handpicking them the most effective way?

Thanks for reading and I await any tips/answers.

Hi Suz, providing its only the lower leaves going brown on the Cordyline, thats quite normal ! this is how they grow, as the top extends the lower leaves die, thus extending the trunk. You should only remove them when they have gone brown and pull away from the trunk easily !
Regarding the slugs and snails, this is the time of year when populations are at their highest, especially it we get rain ! If you dont like using chemicals to kill them, wait for it to get dark, leave it an hour and then go out with a torch and pick them up, on a small scale its very effective.
Lannerman,