How to get rid of slugs: 10 solutions

Slugs are one of the most troublesome visitors in an English garden, as they wreak havoc on delicious brassicas and beautiful ornamentals alike. Although it was decided in March 2022 that the RHS would no longer class slugs as pests as they do help to recycle dead leaves, many of us are keen to stop these creatures in their tracks when our precious plants are at risk. Read on to find out how to get rid of slugs in your garden and protect your plants from being eaten.

Avoid slugs causing devastation in your garden by reading on for our top tips on how to get rid of slugs.

How to get rid of slugs:

1. Get plants on side

A gentle method for getting rid of slugs is to use plants which deter them and act as a natural pesticide. This way, you can keep keep slugs at bay without chemicals. Astrantia gives off a scent that repels slugs. Other plants which deter slugs include wormwood, rue, fennel, anise and rosemary.

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2. Remove, shelter & encourage beneficial wildlife

Slugs will seek out cover under bricks, garden furniture and large logs. Remove potential slug shelters to expose them to natural predators. By making your garden an unsuitable habitat for slugs to survive in, the problem will naturally decline. Encourage natural predators such as toads, newts, hedgehogs and song thrushes to take care of the problem.

3. Make a beer trap

One easy and inexpensive way to get rid of slugs is a beer trap. Create one by burying half a container near vulnerable plants and half filling it with beer. Alternatively, look out for purpose-made beer traps. The scent of the beer will lure slugs, which then fall in and get stuck. Keep the rim of the container 2-3cm above the ground to avoid catching slug-eating ground beetles.

4. Create a prickly barrier

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Slugs are soft-bodied molluscs so sharp, prickly barriers are a great way to deter them from precious plants. Use crushed egg shells, pine needles or thorny cuttings to create barriers and recycle unwanted leftovers and foliage. Another great material to use is sharp sand. Just check whatever you’re using won’t alter the soil quality.

5. Create a slippery barrier

Spraying WD40 on the outside of plant pots will make the surface too slippery for the slugs to scale them, effectively protecting your container plants.

6. Lay down copper tape

Copper reacts with slug slime, giving a tiny electric shock to slugs each time they come into contact with it. Lay down self-adhesive copper tape in your garden to deter slugs from reaching your plants. Attach the tape to greenhouse staging, potted plants, raised beds – anything that needs protecting from these hungry molluscs.

7. Place a lure

Leave a pile of old lettuce leaves or dried cat food in a damp and shady corner to attract a large number of slugs. As they all congregate by the food source, scoop up the perpetrators and dispose of them en masse. Couple this technique with taking torchlit night walks in your garden to catch slugs on the move.

8. Apply nematodes to soil

Nematodes are soil-dwelling micro-organisms which are parasites to slugs. Simply mix them with water and apply to the soil, but make sure the soil temperature is in excess of 5C as the treatment needs this to be effective.

9. Sprinkle salt

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Sprinkling salt on slugs will kill them, but avoid sprinkling it too much as plants are also adversely affected by an excess of salt. It’s therefore best used when far away from valuable plants.

10. The eco-method

Being on the lower end of the food chain, the unfortunate fate of the slug is to provide nourishment for carnivorous predators. Encourage badgers, birds and hedgehogs into your garden to reduce the resident slug population.

Chickens make great pets and can provide you with daily, free-range eggs while reducing the presence of slugs. Therefore, consider adopting an ex-commercial farming hen.

Alternatively, if your garden is sealed off by fencing, drill a CD-case-sized hole in the base of your fence to allow hungry hedgehogs, and perhaps even badgers, into your garden to feast on the slugs.

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Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Garden news