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10 ways to minimize slugs and snails in the garden

by Tricia

I just received a comment on my main blog, Tricia’s Musings, from a regular reader and he said that he lost most of his Hyacinth flowers to slugs this year. What a shame! He must have a very heavy infestation of slugs. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a slug on my hyacinth nor most of my early Spring bloomers.

How do you know if you have slugs or snails in your garden?

Well if you notice that your plants leaves have irregular holes in them or perhaps slime trails on the soil and leaves you probably have slugs or snails. You might also see them crawling on your plant leaves in the evening after dark.

Slugs can do a lot of damage to young plants and seedlings. They can literally strip a young plant bare or even eat it down to the ground. You might try cutting a 2 Liter pop bottle and creating a collar to place around young tender plants if you have slugs in your garden as this will help protect them.

Slugs are particularly fond of Hostas and Delphiniums. However having said that I’ve seen them on about half the plants I grow in my garden so keep any eye out for signs of slug damage.

Some tips on keeping slugs at bay

  • 1. Stir up the earth in your garden beds in the spring. This helps to expose the slug eggs/ larvae and causes them to die from the exposure.
  • 2. Don’t put mulch down until early June (at least here in this Zone 5b area, might be earlier in your area)
  • 3. Add used coffee grounds to the soil or apply around the base of plants troubled by slugs.
    • Each year we make several trips to coffee shops and ask for their used coffee grounds. Most will give them away to the public as they are just throwing them out in the garbage anyway. Some will even take a bucket from you and fill it up throughout the day. We add the coffee grounds to our garden beds, especially around slug troubled plants like Hostas and we also add the coffee grounds to our compost container as they help make a rich compost when they break down.
  • 4. Crushed egg shells around troubled plants is said to deter slugs as they don’t like crawling over abrasive material. Sand, wood shavings, diatomaceous earth, hair or ash can be placed around susceptible plants as an abrasive barrier as well.
  • 5. Copper tape, used wet or dry, is one of the most effective barriers. When slugs and snails make contact with the copper, there is a toxic reaction, similar to an electric shock, which repels them. The minimum width for the copper barriers needs to be at least two inches; slug barriers sold in nurseries are often smaller and should be doubled or tripled when installed.
  • 6. Slugs and snails tend to feed at night so you can go into your garden at night and literally pick the slimy slugs off your plants and dispose of them.
  • 7. You also might try setting some bait for slugs in shallow containers. A popular slug trap is baited with beer, but people have also tried using yeast, damp dog food (dry pellets), and a potato cut in half.
  • 8. You might also try purchasing Nematode worms from a garden supplier. Nematodes also help to keep other garden pests from the garden too.
    • Nematodes aggressively search out and attack slugs. They enter the slugs body through a hole behind their heads (the pulmonary aperture that they breathe through to be precise). Once inside they release a bacteria which stops the slug eating. The nematodes then start to reproduce inside and within 7-10 days the slug is dead. The nematodes continue to reproduce as the body breaks down. This new population enters the soil and searches out new slugs to attack. This is a natural, non-toxic product that is safe for both users and wildlife. The nematodes stay active for 6 weeks so a single dose protects plants when they are emerging in the spring and are most vulnerable.
    • Nematodes can only be used in late spring and summer when the soil has warmed up (to above 5°C). On heavy, waterlogged clay soil, the nematodes can find it difficult to move, so Nemtodes can be less effective in these conditions.
  • 9. Use plants that slugs dislike to repel slugs – Ginger, garlic, mint, chives, red lettuce, red cabbage, sage, sunflower, fennel, foxglove, mint, chicory & endive seem to be less prone to slug attack. Plant them around the perimeter of your garden to keep them from infiltrating, and or plant them near troubled plants such as Hosta.
  • 10. Make your garden bird friendly by putting out a feeder. The birds might pick off a few slugs while they’re visiting your yard. Also if you have frogs or snakes in your garden they will often eat slugs and other garden pests.

And a bonus tip … Slugs love moisture, so if you want to minimize slugs in your garden keep your garden as dry as possible (without killing your plants), especially in the spring when there are slug eggs in the ground. Dry soil could kill them or at the very least cause them to move to an area that suits them better – ie your neighbors yard. That’s one reason why I suggested turning your garden soil several times in the spring, preferably before your soil temp reaches 5 Celsius, as you will likely expose slug eggs and they will die because they’ll dry out.

As you can probably tell I’m not into using pesticides to get rid of slugs and other bad bugs. in fact here in Toronto they’ve banned most pesticides and herbicides so it’s a good thing I’ve been gardening without chemicals anyway! LOL I have a lot of success with these methods – particularly the coffee grounds, turning the soil and hand picking slugs and snails off my plants and as a result I don’t have too many slugs in my garden beds.

May your garden be slug and snail free this year!






Filed Under: Garden Maintenance, Garden Tips, Home and Lifestyle, In The Garden, Organic, pests, Spring Tasks Tagged With: abrasive, ash, bait, barrier, beer trap, bird friendly, birds, chicory, chives, coffee grounds, compost, copper tape, damage, delphinium, diatomaceous earth, dry soil, eat leaves, eat plants, egg shells, eliminate slugs, frogs, garden, garlic, get rid of slugs, ginger, Hosta, irregular holes, mint, moisture, natural, nematodes, Organic, pick off, protect plants, seedlings, signs, slime trail, slugs, snails, snakes, soil, strip plants, yeast

Comments

  1. DrDeb says

    May 12, 2009 at 5:45 am

    This is a great article, and I wonder: how can skilled gardeners share their expertise with the people who have never grown anything before, who are planting recession gardens around the country?

  2. Jenny says

    May 14, 2009 at 12:57 am

    omg i saw a grub once an i just WTF IS THAT?! i cant imagine slugs. ewww

  3. Char/Stitchary says

    May 15, 2009 at 6:48 am

    Here in the Pacific Northwest, slugs are a HUGE problem. Thank you for all these tips! Very helpful 🙂

  4. Copter says

    May 16, 2009 at 1:09 am

    Thanks for the advice on the used coffee grounds. Now I have an excuse to drink more of it. I can tell my wife that I’m drinking this coffee so her flowerbed bushes and the tomato plants won’t die. What a great plan!

  5. Shady Gardener says

    May 27, 2009 at 9:36 am

    Thank you for your helpful information (as always!). I’ve passed this post to a gardening friend. 🙂

  6. Auntie E says

    May 29, 2009 at 10:32 am

    a gift awaits you at my Garden Blog. you can blog over to pick it up. I really like your Blog. Been visiting a little while. I am very impressed.:-)

  7. Luc says

    May 30, 2009 at 5:55 am

    My hostas get eaten completely down to the ground. Tried several natural remedies but nothing seems to help so far, so I reverted back to the chemical methods. I will try your tip about shells though.

  8. forklift says

    May 30, 2009 at 9:26 am

    The fastest snails are the speckled garden snails which can move up to 55 yards per hour.
    Even so the sticky garden snail gets fooled and trapped.

  9. Shady Gardener says

    May 31, 2009 at 11:58 pm

    Have to let you know that my Green Thumb Sunday post is “up!” 😉

  10. what do frogs eat says

    June 4, 2009 at 5:10 pm

    An adult Bull Frog can eat up to 1000 insects a day. Toads in particular are ideal for getting rid of slugs. Toads really do prefer slugs, and will wipe them out quickly. Many times in just a day. It is worth going out a buying a toad home to try and get them to stick around. Just remember that toads drink through the skin on their belly so make sure you water often.

  11. Beth says

    June 11, 2009 at 3:06 am

    Thanks for sharing the wonderful information to minimize slugs and snails in the garden.

  12. garden landscaping ideas says

    June 25, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    I am soooo done with slugs and snails in my garden. They’re complete pests. Thank you so much for your tips. I will try to follow them one by one, and see which ones are most effective. Thank heavens for gardening and garden landscaping ideas from experts and from the more experienced ones like you!

  13. Dee says

    February 19, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    Tip #3 is suppose to help with the growth. Is that true? I thought maybe just worm castings would be great. Tip #4 is very cool. I didn’t know that. I will have to try that.

  14. Used Forklift Sales says

    July 17, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    Hey i loved your tips and this must be helpful for those who like gardening

  15. Ken says

    July 22, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    I’ve never seen so many slugs in my garden this year. In Manitoba it’s been very wet this year so that is probably a contributing factor. I don’t like to kill anything so I’ll try the slug barrier. My neighbours will probably phone me or the cops when they see me with a flashlight picking slugs.
    LOL

  16. Common Pests says

    June 7, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    Brilliant tips for garden lover people. Also, I would have to agree about keeping the garden dry to get rid of slugs.

  17. Steven says

    January 15, 2012 at 7:28 am

    Slug Shields are the first organic solution that I’ve found that last all season.

  18. Leslie Puglia says

    May 16, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    OK, so coffee it is!


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