It's official - we've just had the wettest summer for one hundred years and the slugs in my garden are loving it. Both flowering plants and vegetables have suffered this year so I am looking at ways of dealing with the slimy menace.
I don't like using slug pellets, even those which are supposed to be harmless to wildlife, so I am trying other methods. Slugs hide during the day and emerge at night to munch on my favourite plants. The first line of defence is to keep the garden tidy and limit their hiding places. Putting copper bands round pots deter slugs and snails as crawling over copper gives molluscs an electric shock. Copper rings are also available to protect plants in the borders.
I have had some success with garlic wash. Just steep some garlic cloves in water for a few hours and then spray on plants - this method also deters aphids and vampires! Slug traps filled with beer also work well and at least the slugs die happy.
A surefire method is to go out at night armed with a torch, rubber gloves and a bucket of salt water to drown the little blighters in. This doesn't really appeal to me so I have decided to try biological control with nematodes. Packs of powder can be purchased which contain millions of microscopic nematodes (parasites) that kill slugs both above and below ground. The powder is mixed with water and applied to the soil with a watering can. If done correctly the nematodes should remain active for about 6 weeks, even during really wet weather when the slugs are at their most rampant. The only drawback is that they don't kill snails.
Hopefully by using some of the above tactics and encouraging natural predators such as birds and hedgehogs I can control the slug and snail population and limit the plant damage next year.
Gardening blog featuring a medium sized traditional English garden with mature trees, shrubs, lawn, herbaceous borders, vegetable patch, greenhouse and containers. All photos have been taken in my garden.
