Top 7 Tips to Control Garden Slugs

Slugs and snails are a bane of any gardener’s life. They have the tendency to eat seeds, sprouts and damage plants during their growth phase. Slugs are known to be highly destructive to your garden plants. The worst part is that slugs have fast reproduction cycle and have the capacity to bring forth sluglings at the rate of multiples. A garden infested with slugs is a nightmare for any sane gardener. Here are a few tips to control the slug and snail population in your garden

Tip 1: Use egg shells around your plants: This is a cruel trick really if you look at it from a slug’s perspective. Crush egg shells and spread them around your plants. It won’t look bad believe me, just crush it well. The slugs have a soft underbelly. When they tread over these egg shells they have a tendency to cut themselves owing to the sharp edges presented by these defenses. Great way to keep the slugs away from your tender plants and the best thing is that it kills the pests at the same time. Talk about two hitting birds with the same stone.

Tip2: Beer can be quite tempting: Stale beer my friends is a helper any day. Slugs are merry creatures who love their beer. Just pour a good amount of stale beer onto a bowl and place it near the slug infested regions on your garden. Slugs are attracted to the smell of beer, they climb onto the bowl and drown in the liquid. Finding slugs drowned in stale beer is not a particularly engrossing sight but it gets the job done.

Tip3: Use the salt to your advantage: If you find slugs around the mulch in your garden. Take a good amount of salt to it. Sprinkle it around on top of the slug and you will find them dying. Great way to kill the slugs cleanly and with less effort.

Tip4: Spread lime around your plants: Lime is a useful ally in your fight against slugs. Spread it around your plants and you will see slugs keep a distance. Beware that lime might increase the acidic content of your soil so don’t go too overboard with it.

Tip5: Clean up your garden for god’s sake: Slugs, slimy creatures, are fond of dirtiness and garbage. Anything which is left over unattended is a hiding place for slugs. I am sure you have had quite a few evil surprises when you found slugs burrowed under that pot you had left in the garden for a few months. Clear away all the pots, bowls, rods, panes or whatever you have lying around in certain unused regions of your garden. They are the breeding grounds for these pests. Keep a clean garden free of dirtiness and you would have a one up against slugs. Mulch is good for plants but are tempting to slugs. So use tip6.

Tip6: Mulch made of lemon grass is evil for slugs: Make mulch from plant leaves known to repel slugs. There is a huge list a few would be lemon grass, ginger, tea leaves, wormwood etc. Using these leaves as mulch is harmless.

Tip7: Use your spear now and then: Whenever you take a stroll in your garden make sure you have a slug spear handy. If you find slugs lurking in the interior of your plants and bushes these spears can come in quite handy to impale the little no gooders.