Ask any gardener which pest they fear the most and the answer will probably be slugs! A few slugs can ruin a healthy plant in just a few hours and are notoriously difficult to get rid of. There are of course, plenty of chemical products and slug pellets available but you might be reluctant to use these, particularly if you like to let young children help with the gardening, or if you have pets. So if you’re looking for a chemical-free way to deal with slugs, what are your options? Well, here are few ideas to try:
Create a Trap
By creating a trap using things that slugs are naturally attracted to you may be able to capture them and keep them away from your plants. You can use fruit or pet food to entice slugs to a specific area of your garden and then simply scoop them up and throw them away. Alternatively, a popular trapping method is to create a beer trap as slugs love beer! Simply dig a hole in the ground and place a bowl or cup in the hole so that the rim is roughly level with the soil. Then fill the cup three-quarters full of beer. Leave overnight and the next day you should find that the slugs have drowned in the beer.
Copper Tape
Copper tape gives slugs an electric shock so it’s ideal for wrapping around outdoor pots.
Gritty Textures
Snails love smooth surfaces so if you can make the area around your plants unpleasant for wandering slugs, they are less likely to give you bother. Grit, gravel, crushed eggshells or even coffee grounds will all create a rough texture that slugs hate.
Salt Warning
You may have heard that salt will kill slugs and whilst this is true, don’t be tempted to put salt in your garden as it will spoil the fine balance of the soil. Instead, you can use a bucket of salty water to discard your captured slugs.
Deterrent Plants
There are a number of plants which are thought to deter slugs from the garden and so you could try planting some of these and see if it keeps the slugs away. Plants that slugs are said to hate include ginger, garlic, chives and mint.
Citrus Fruits
Next time you eat an orange or grapefruit, keep hold of the peel as it makes an excellent slug trap. Half a grapefruit with the flesh removed works particularly well. Place the rind from citrus fruits on the surface of the compost around vulnerable plants and leave overnight. The slugs will be attracted to the rinds and will congregate underneath – they particularly like to hide underneath when the sun comes up. Then simply check your citrus traps and dispose of the slugs.
Night-time Manoeuvres
After dark is the time that slugs love the most so a simple but effective way to capture slugs is simply to head out at night with a torch. Take a stroll around your plants and pick off the slugs before they have chance to do too much damage.
For more advice about chemical-free gardening, visit: www.organicgardening.com
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