We all know Slugs and Snails are very unpopular creatures however they have inhabited gardens and soil for years.

All About Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails are from the family of mollusks that now live on land. Their cousins are sea dwelling and Slugs evolved from Snails.

Slugs and snails have to keep moist to stay hydrated to survive, they have a slime trail to do this and this is why they love coming out when it rains and love moisture from the soil and juicy plants.

Slugs love hiding underneath pots because it’s the wettest and most un-disturbed place to be.

Slugs have a smell detection system in their tentacles. They have two pairs of retractable tentacles and one pair are their eyes and the other pair is effectively their nose. If they accidentally loose an eye tentacle, then it grows back! Like magic.✨

The Problem with Slugs and Snails 🐌

• Slugs are nocturnal and only come out of the soil or out of hiding at dawn or dusk. Only 5% of slugs live above the soil.
• They eat almost everything – leaf matter, plants, flowers, vegetables, fungi, dead animals and plants. They have 27,000 teeth!
• Slugs and snails love continuous rainy weather. As the soil is wet, they can travel around on their slime trails more easily than if it was dry.
• When it’s dry, slugs hide out under rocks, planters, pots and damp places so they can retain moisture. They can stretch their bodies to fit through tiny gaps.
• Slugs slime trails can be vertical and Slugs can produce enough slime on its foot to stick vertically to a fence, wall, pole or side of your raised bed.
• Slugs sizes range from 3cm to 12 inches long.
• Slugs live for 1 to 5 years.

Animals that eat Slugs & Snails

• Ducks, hedgehogs, frogs and toads, owls, foxes, mice and badgers.
• Some Ground beetles eat small slugs.
• Blackbirds, redwings, starlings are the birds that like to eat slugs.
• Due to the slime on slugs, small birds find it hard to pick them up in their beaks.
• Some Birds do however like snails and pecking their shells to break them up.

How to Love your Vegetable Garden & Live with Slugs and Snails

It would be lovely if we could live together with these creatures in harmony. I’m sure a lot of people might think I’ve lost my mind! but I’m thinking how can we grow vegetables and live with slugs and snails?

There are two ways of approaching this issue:

• 1. Plant Deterrents,
• 2. Plant Diversions.

1. Slug Deterrent Plants

Slugs don’t like the smell of the following:

• Lemon Balm,
• Chives,
• Yarrow,
• Wild garlic,
• Lavender,
• Oregano,
• Camomile,
• Curry leaves,
• Rosemary,
• Thyme,
• Hyssop.

Mobile Slug Defence System

I like to use the Mobile Slug Defence System.

Plant any of the above Slug Deterrent Plants in a pot, so you can move the pot to the plants you are trying to save.

With your plants going mobile, it is like putting up a barrier of an unpleasant smell like a Mobile Slug Defence System.

Slugs don’t like the strong odour of:

Note: Onions don’t like being planted near beans and peas.

• Garlic &
• Onions ( including spring onions)

Plant onions around the edges of your beds to deter slugs and snails or plant spring onions in a pot, using it as a Mobile Slug Plant Deterrent.

Slugs seem to avoid the following Vegetable Plants:

• Radish,
• Beetroot,
• Endive Lettuce,
• Cos Lettuce has been proven as one of the slug resistant varieties of lettuce.
• Tomatoes,
• Celery,
• Red Lettuce.

Slugs also don’t like the following flowers:

• Peonies
• Roses
• Foxgloves
• Carnations
• Geraniums
• Cranesbill
• Lambs ear
• Veronica
• Salva
• Verbena
• Ferns

Deterrent Plant Textures

Slugs move around with their slime and their bodies move by waves of muscular contraction. With their slime, they can go over crunchy material like egg shells and some types of rocks and gravel.

Slugs and snails also don’t like plants that are prickly or with shiny hard leaves. They also don’t like conifers or woody shrubs.

We can use this as an advantage and use these materials to create slugs and snail barriers around the plants we want to survive.

Plant Textures to use on the ground as a barrier to Slugs and Snails

• Holly leaves and small branches,
• Camellias, rhododendron or azalea plant leaves,
• Conifer leaves.

2. Diversion Plants

Try diverting slugs and snails to eating other plants on your garden, to save your plants. If you plant these in pots, a mobile diversion system can be put in place away from the plant you are trying to save.

Diversion Plants that Slugs love to eat:

• Marigold,
• Lupine,
• Delphinium,
• Hosta,
• Strawberries,
• Basil,
• Campanula (bellflower),
• Petunias,
• Lobelia,
• Primroses,
• Hollyhocks.

Vegetables that Slugs love to eat are:

• Carrots
• Peas
• Cabbage
• Lettuce (not red lettuce)

If all else fails, try the following methods:

Natural Control of Slugs:

• Moving them – Moving them more than 20 meters away from your garden or plants. They have a short distance only homing sense but any longer distance and they are less likely to return.
• Plant Cloches – there is some evidence that if you cloche plants with netting that the slugs won’t be able to eat your plants. Take care with this approach as slugs inhabit the soil and it may turn into a slug fest under the netting.
• Beer Traps or a Yeast, Water & Sugar Mix – a bath of beer, or a yeast mix – slugs cannot resist it, use a small plastic tray which slugs can easily slide into but can’t get out again. Tip out the drunk/dead slugs in the bin every morning.
• Nematodes – it’s not pretty, but it works, it’s like fighting nature with nature. The micro-organisms come in powder which are activated by water in a watering can. When poured onto an area lived in by slugs, the microorganisms are eaten by the slug and then the slug dies.
• Other ways which are widely reported to stop slugs are: Salt lines, crushed eggshells around plants, Vaseline around pots, copper tape on pots & wool around plants, oats, Strulch (straw mulch).

Bookmark these for later:

• 🕷️ ‘Nature does it Best’ Pest Control
• 🐞 Beneficial Insects – Ladybirds or Ladybugs
• Pesky Pests – Aphids, Blackfly & Greenfly
• UK Slug ID Chart.