Visiting friends in Brussels, Belgium, I encountered nasty
creatures in their lovely garden: Slugs and Snails. In Canada,
I have never seen them, not even in British Columbia, where
I spent leisure time in Spring, but never in Summer. I was in
horror to see these slimy pests even two meters high
climbing roses and apple trees - especially the snails that
are easy to detect as they carry their houses on the back.
Snails and slugs munch the new growth of precious plants,
demolish seedlings overnight, and bite irregularly shaped holes
in leaves, stems, flowers, tubers, and bulbs. Slugs are the bane
of gardeners' lives, regularly topping surveys of garden pests.
My friend's garden is mostly shaded by large trees and the
traditional walls that separate town houses (built around 1910)
in Brussels. So, I decided to find her some shade-loving
Hostas in a variety of colors, mostly white-green striped and
yellow-white. I was proud to find these unusual colors as I
wanted to bring some colorful hues in the most shaded place.
I planted them right away, watered them well, and took a
photo for my friend. But when I entered the garden early the
next morning, I was sad to see one Hosta leave lying on
the ground. Even worse what happened the next day:
three leaves of the other Hostas were gone too. Almost
eaten up entirely… I bought a nice planter and dug out the
Hostas to transfer them to the planter. I also purchased
metal cleaning pads that I would usually take to clean pots
and pans. My idea was to pull them apart, to create a band
around the lower part of the planter. This sharp band helped
to keep the slugs at bay and for the next weeks no slug or
snail dared to climb the planter.
Three-Part Plan
However, I made a three-part deterrent against the slugs
and snails. Besides the sharp metal band, I used cat
litter to spread it underneath and around the planter as
slugs avoid dry material to crawl over. The smell of chili
powder is also not favorable for their fine sense of smell,
so I spread a ring of chili powder around the base of the
planter and instructed my friends to repeat the chili
treatment from time to time.
More Methods to Get Rid of Slugs
Searching the Internet to learn about slugs and snails,
I found out that they are really a common nuisance. In
Belgium, it rains often due to the proximity of the North Sea.
This and a garden with lots of shade are the recipe for lots
of these creatures.
I learned that wooden planks spread on several parts of
the garden helps to catch them. They crawl underneath
where it is shady and cool, and cannot caught easily by
predators, such as birds - which were absent in my
friend's garden as she has three outdoor cats.
In the morning I could easily scratch them off the wooden
boards with a hand shovel and collect them In a plastic jar.
My friend would drive to a nearby forest to release them
into the wild.
Besides the cats roaming the garden, preventing birds
from nesting and to eat the slugs, there was another
problem: a large composter in the corner, made of
plastic and with a lid.
It was the perfect hiding place for these creatures and
where they also lay their eggs. European garden slugs
lay as many as 500 eggs per year. Imagine, if you have
only 50 slugs, they can produce up to 5,000 young ones …
When I read this, I felt compelled to roam the garden
every morning before sunrise to collect all the slugs
and snails I could find.
The problem when you retrieve soil from a composter
that contains slug eggs: you spread them everywhere
in your garden where you apply the compost soil!
Water the Soil in the Morning
This ensures that the soil has dried out by the
evening when slugs are most active. Wet soil at
night can create a slug highway between plants.
There are Many Options for Controlling Slugs
The best approach is to combine several methods,
starting early in spring. Birds such as blackbirds
and thrushes eat slugs and snails. Create lots of
habitats for birds – hedges, shrubs especially those
with berries, and trees. If you have a large property,
a wildlife pond is a great addition to your garden –
the newts, frogs, and toads that use it will also
devour slugs.
A popular approach to dealing with slugs is to go
out with a headlamp after dark to pick them off plants,
bucket of salt water at the ready. Wear gloves and
use a hand shovel.
You can deliberately attract slugs to a dark, shady
corner using something they are attracted to – old
veggie or lettuce leaves, dried cat food, bread rolls,
or oats. As they congregate for a feed at night,
pitch in and collect them.
Also, look out for clusters of slug eggs in spring
and autumn – slugs can lay them in batches of 50
at a time. They look like translucent white balls,
a few millimeters across.
They are often found under plant pots, stones,
in moist pockets of soil, and in other cool, dark,
places. Leave them out for the birds, or squash
them immediately.
Repeal Slugs by the Smell of Garlic
Apply a garlic drench to precious plants in the
evening, coating the leaves thoroughly. Apply
regularly, especially after rain. Other methods
are sprinkling lime around your garden beds,
or using chili or lots of coffee grounds.
Create Barriers Against Slugs
If you grow your own veggies, build or purchase
a raised bed and attach a thin metal barrier
that prevents slugs from crawling over it. Some
garden centers also carry metal rims to place
around regular vegetable beds. They also sell
copper rims to bend around valuable plants.
Together with a two-inch wide lime next to it,
it will prevent slugs from entering your precious
veggie beds.
Slugs find sharp, prickly and dry materials
uncomfortable to travel over. Popular barriers
include ash, bark, cat litter, cocoa chips, sawdust,
sand, and horticultural grit, as well as lime. You
could also try wool pellets, cocoa hulls, or lots of
coffee grounds. Bear in mind that these need
topping up regularly, especially after heavy rains.
A greasy barrier, such as Petroleum or WD-40 -
smeared liberally around the rims of pots,
planters, or seed trays help too. Another way
that might deter them is double-sided sticky tape
attached to the rim of pots, the outer side liberally
doused in salt.
Create a Slug Trap
Make a slug trap using cheap beer – slugs will be
attracted to the smell. Sink a beer trap or container
into the ground, with the rim just above soil level.
Fill it half with beer and then cover it with a loose
lid to stop other creatures from falling in. Check
and empty regularly. It's best to place the trap on
the edge of a border or veg patch. If you place it
within it, the slugs will eat your plants on their
way to the trap. Take one cup of water,
2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of
yeast. Regular yeast like you usually make bread
with. Works just as good as the beer. Watch this
video for even more tips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7GYY_DTOKI
Carefully Choose Your Plants
Prioritize the protection of the most vulnerable
plants in your garden, such as Hostas, Dahlias,
Delphiniums, Zinnias, Lupins, or Campanula,
plus lettuce. cabbage, or strawberries.
Consider plant options that are more resistant.
Many plants have leathery, glossy, hairy, or scented
leaves that slugs tend to leave alone.
GardenersWorld suggests plants such as aquilegias,
penstemons, foxgloves, hardy geraniums,
crocosmias, and euphorbias, have toxic leaves,
while others, such as Alchemilla mollis, Japanese
anemones, astilbes, stachys, and pulmonaria,
have developed thick or hairy foliage, which slugs
and snails appear not to like. Thick succulent
foliage such as those of sedums and sempervivums
can deter slugs, too.
In the vegetable patch it's the aromatic and
bitter-tasting leaves such as endive and
Mediterranean herbs, or Lavender, which
appear to put slugs off. Small shrubs, especially
Hydrangeas, are also not popular for slugs.
Gardeners, please accept that your garden
is never going to be totally slug-free, if your
area receives frequent rains. Find ways to
work around this, using several methods from
this article.
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