Well I would think that it is pretty impossible to get rid of slugs completely, however there are loads of ways to limit their effect on our plants.
Firstly, there is the tried and tested chemical solution - the slug pellet - these are eaten by the slug and as a result of digestion the slug dies. Slug pellets do however have a few drawbacks. Personally I find them unsightly and they can cause problems to other animals as well as children.
So why not go down the biological route?
You could use slug traps - these are filled with beer and sunk into the border. Or you could use copper rings around the plants most at risk. Or if the plants are in a container you could use copper tape. Egg shells have long been used as a deterrent along with coco shells and pretty much anything that might stick to the slug as it moves through the border, you could even try to encourage hedgehogs into your garden as they love slugs.
Good luck!
Answered by Green Shoots landscaping from United Kingdom, Crieff in June 2010.
Green Shoots Landscaping is a Landscaper, and provider of garden maintenance services
Astonishingly enough, snails and slugs can be killed with coffee!! Yes, regular (caffeinated) brewed coffee mixed 50%/50% with water and sprayed on your plants and on the ground (not when it's hot, please) will give the critters heart attacks (because of the caffeine) within 72 hours.
It's important to get it on the ground as well as the plants as they must cross the coffee to take the caffeine up through their pseudopod (foot).
This info comes from research in Hawaii and worked amazingly well for me when I had a major infestation of small ground snails in my daylily field last year.
Location info: I am in Zone 3 in the US.
Answered by Labour of Love Landscaping & Nursery from USA, Glover, in June 2010.
Labour of Love Landscaping & Nursery is a design/build firm, and a retail nursery in Glover, VT.
I don't have slug problems in my garden! I use Doff Slug Attack early in the year - based on aluminium sulphate it kills slugs and their eggs. Then I resort to slug pellets, which are harmless providing they're used properly. And I have a garden full of frogs and toads, a family of hedgehogs & a couple of thrushes.
Answered by GardenForum Horticulture from United Kingdom, Peterborough, in July 2010.
GardenForum Horticulture is a garden writer & broadcaster.
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