Newbie to Morning Glory

I've only tried growing Morning Glory plants once before - with disappointing results. Last year my entire crop of 5 inch high seedlings (about 50 plants) was chewed to the roots overnight by snails. I live in a rural area with lots of surrounding vegetation. The slugs and snails come slithering in each spring with the first rain after a period of drought that nearly always takes place around this time. It is a real invasion, so I'm now very wary of putting my seedlings outside. I plan to try the Morning Glory in flower pouches (I have some lovely, green hessian ones) and hang them up as high as possible. I've seen Morning Glory grown up trellises and supports but never trailing from pouches or baskets. I'm wondering if their stems are strong enough to trail in the wind. We are rural-coastal and mountainous, so the winds can be very strong. If anyone has experience with them planted in this way could you please let me know how you got on.

Oh, and any other advise or suggestions on how to get around the spring slug and snail assault would be immensely welcome! I've had - well actually more or less anything and everything eaten on previous years by this over-the-wall, annual, overnight invasion. Some very large snails even managed to climb up a lamp-post, along a bracket, past a butchers S-hook and down the chain of a hanging basket in order to get at it's contents! 

Hello Dinah,

Have a look at some of our snail content. I've focussed on snails in particular, as they're the ones that climb - using their shells to stop them from drying out in the process!

Good luck,

Emma

gardenersworld.com team