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.

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 be giving you more ideas for each one as you continue reading.

• Slug Elimination – Finding ways of permanently putting the little blighters out of your misery! This includes poisoning, which is to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.*
• 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.
• Shelters & Refuges – Another more ‘natural’ trap is to recognise the sort of places where slugs love to hide during the day. Check those places and dispose of any you discover. 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 slugs and your precious plants apart? Rough surfaces that are difficult to move across, desiccants that dehydrate, and raised containers are among the many methods I’ll be telling you about.
• Natural Predators – Hedgehogs, birds, and beetles all love a fat juicy slug! Learn to encourage the ‘good guys’ to make your garden their home.
• Garden Hygiene – An untidy garden with masses of dense undergrowth and rubbish under which to shelter during the day will provide a veritable slug haven. So keep it tidy! Slugs will hate you for it.
• By Hand – Yuk!  This must be one of the most disgusting, although arguably one of the more effective, methods of slug control. Night time ‘slug patrol’ after a shower of rain yields the best results.
• 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.

* When using any chemicals in the garden, ALWAYS read the label carefully, and keep any poisons away from young children and animals.

Continue reading and I’ll give you more helpful ideas for each method...

What do you want to do now?

• Slug pellets
  Learn about slug pellets and their hazards.
• Slug shelters and refuges
  Create the kind of places where slugs love to hide...  then go and collect them.
• Hand collection
  Did you know, collecting slugs by hand may be yucky, but it’s very effective.