They can strip a young plant overnight. Here's how to protect your garden without a war of attrition.
Created by jflgardens.co.uk
Slugs and snails are the bane of many a UK gardener, especially in a damp year. You don't need to eliminate them — just tilt the odds in your favour at the moments that matter.
The vulnerable window is when plants are small and tender. Once a plant is established, slugs do far less damage. So focus your effort on seedlings and freshly planted specimens, which is where it pays off.
Copper tape, crushed-egg-shell rough patches and wool barriers all put slugs off crossing to tender plants. Beer traps and upturned-grapefruit-fruit traps draw them away from what you care about in a damp spell.
Hedgehogs, birds, frogs and slow worms all eat slugs and snails. A wildlife-friendly garden — a pond, log piles, a gap under the fence — brings in the best pest control there is.
Slugs love cool, damp darkness. Watering in the morning gives leaves time to dry before nightfall, making the surface far less inviting than a wet evening garden.
From garden maintenance to a full planting-style overhaul, the JFL Gardens team works across Surrey and London.
