Types of Slug Control
The battle against slugs is one the gardener will never win. However, working with natural solutions, planting strategically, and encouraging wildlife, we can minimise the impact of the slug menace.
Tender plants can be decimated overnight
Mollusc management
When dealing with slugs and snails, the cunning and ingenuity of the avid gardener never ceases to amaze me. Below are some of the main methods, and I’ll give you more ideas about each one as you keep reading this site.
Slug Elimination
Finding ways of permanently putting the little blighters out of your misery! This method includes poisoning, which should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
Wise precaution
When using chemicals in the garden, ALWAYS read the label carefully. Keep any poisons away from children and animals.
Slug Traps
Ingenious contraptions to lure the slug to its doom; either killing it outright or allowing you to dispose of it later at your leisure. For example, the ever popular Slug-X beer trap.
Slug Shelters
Another variation on the slug trap idea is to recognise the sort of places where slugs love to hide during the day. Check those places and dispose of any slugs you find hiding there. You can even create your own such places in the garden and have the slugs exactly where you want them.
Slug Barriers
Rather than total annihilation, this approach aims to keep a little distance between the slug and your precious plants. Rough surfaces that are difficult to move across, desiccants that dehydrate, and copper barriers that inflict a tiny electric shock are just some of the possibilities.
By Hand
Yuk! This must be one of the most disgusting, though arguably one of the more effective, methods of slug control; more so than any poisons and chemicals. I can collect hundreds on night time ‘slug patrol’ after a shower of rain.
Natural Predators
Hedgehogs, birds, and beetles all love a fat juicy slug! Learn to encourage the ‘good guys’ to make your garden their home. Microscopic nematodes, while technically a parasite rather than a predator, fall loosely into this category too.
Garden Hygiene
An untidy garden with masses of dense undergrowth and rubbish beneath which to shelter during the day will provide a veritable slug haven. So keep it tidy! Slugs will hate you for it.
Slug Tolerance
Last but not least is learning to live with the slug to a certain extent. Grow the most delicate plants away from favoured slug haunts. Consider a few sacrificial plants to lure them away from your tender seedlings and treasured specimens.
The Little Book of Slugs
The Little Book of Slugs
Want to learn more about the slugs in your garden?
Then I think you’ll like The Little Book of Slugs by Allan Shepherd & Suzanne Galant, with its mix of zany humour and sound practical advice.
- Know your enemy; even the slug has its Achilles Heel.
- Tired of fighting? Grow plants that slugs won’t eat.
- Over 70 ways to combat slugs without using chemical pellets.
The Little Book of Slugs
Find out more...
What do you want to do now
- Slug pellets hazards
Before reaching for the little blue pellets, find out more about them. - Slug hiding places
Create the kind of places where slugs love to shelter... then go and collect them. - Hand collection
Did you know, collecting slugs by hand may be yucky, but it’s surprisingly effective.
The Little Book of Slugs
by Allan Shepherd
& Suzanne Galant
A hilarious account of how to garden without using slug pellets.
This little book succeeds in mixing good practical advice with zany humour.
Did you
know?
Slugs leave their own individual scent trail so they can find their way home