My arch enemy in the garden, munching their way through many a Hosta and with a particular taste for Campanula. I’ve tried many tips to help rid my garden of these pests, but have realised that I’m fighting a losing battle to rid them completely. By encouraging predators in the garden, I have managed to slow the damage rate somewhat and I’ll cover this in more detail later on. My garden is organic, and I have a dog, so the use of slug pellets is not possible – I did try them in my first garden, but with limited success. After much research on the internet and some on-site testing, these seem to be the most popular tips:
- Beer traps – place at the edge of flower beds otherwise the distraction of a juicy leaf my prevent them evening reaching the trap!
- Eggshells – place around the base of susceptible plants
- Copper tape – wrap copper tape around plant pots
- Predators – birds, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, shrews, moles, ducks, centipedes
- Nematodes – microscopic worms that seek out slugs and kill them within 3 days
- Manual removal – at dusk and ideally by torchlight, pick up the pests and remove from the garden
- Wool Pellets – place around the base of tender plants
- Choose plants resistant to slugs and snails e.g acanthus mollis, rudbeckia, verbascum
- Raking over soil and removing fallen leaves – this allows birds to eat the slugs that were hidden beneath the leaves.
I have yet to try nematodes, partially because they are expensive but they also only work for a limited time (around 6 weeks) and this would involve a significant cost and time to cover an acre of garden on a 6-weekly basis.
My favoured methods are to attract predators into the garden and manual removal. I check the base of pots regularly and once the Hostas are in leaf, I will go out most nights and pick the pests off the plants. I generally put them in the compost bin (I don’t put them on my compost heap as they would just crawl away). I have read that you can freeze them first before composting, but I don’t like the idea of slugs in my freezer! As for predators, we encourage birds and have a resident toad in the garden, along with many shrews and moles, who regularly, if not annoyingly, pop up in the middle of the lawn, but nevertheless, enjoy snacking on slugs.
