Famous cook and gardener, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is a big fan of organic gardening and he recently confessed to having very few slug issues in his garden, even though he doesn’t use slug pellets to control them.
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One of the way that he battles against them to prevent them from munching on down on his produce is to make it easy for hedgehogs to eat them. Another member of wildlife who is happy to eat them are blackbirds.
Although slug pellets are particularly popular in the UK, they are not good for the land nor the water course. In fact they contain a substance known as metaldehyde and once this is in the water it’s not possible to remove it.
So it’s fortunate that it’s not necessary to poison slugs. Even Prince Charles manages to keep his hostas growing very happily without a single pellet to protect them against the voracious appetite of the British slug. He also has a fine collection of Gunnera thriving in the Highgrove garden.
The Prince has turned things around so that he has even got the slug to help out with garden jobs too. The Arion ater, is a large black slug that enjoys a diet of fungi, manure and rotting vegetation. Unfortunately the slug pellet will kill all slugs, even the helpful ones, so this is another reason that you’re advised to avoid its use.
It’s actually the small slugs that cause all the damage though. Without resorting to metaldehyde, the organic gardener can consider using carabid beetles. Both the larvae and the adults will tuck into the small slugs.
Britain’s all black beetle, otherwise known as Pterostichus melanairus is particularly common and abundant and it loves to eat the slug. The only hurdle they may face is if you have particularly steep sides on your beds, they may not be able to climb them.
You can encourage beetles, birds and small mammals by leaving undisturbed areas on the edges of the garden. This can be done by planting the borders very densely so that they have cover to hide in. you may also want to go out in the evening with a bucket and collect any slugs you find. Take them for a very long walk and leave them there.
If you’ve got a slug issue, all is not lost, by following some of these tips you can make an impact to ensure that your plants are able to thrive without being munched down.