Slugs and Snails

By James Middleton - Added 30th of May 2008

Unfortunately, here in the UK our mild damp climate offers the perfect breading ground for every gardener's worst enemy - slugs and snails. Our winters are far to soft on these tiny mollusc's and our springs and autumns, far too damp. Slugs and snails are intolerant of dry conditions and prefer to move about on damp and sticky surfaces, so is it any wonder that a night of rain during dry spells is both a blessing and a curse.

Conventional slug pellet application

Most of us, at some point have used slug pellets to control numbers in our gardens and on our allotments. Although this method seems to work - often the next day you'll find many dead or dying slugs scattered across the ground - it only scratches at the surface of the problem. Firstly we must understand what we are up against. Any 1 metre square patch of earth may contain between 100-250 individual slugs! So counted 10-20 the day after the assault is a superficial victory.

Another problem with the use of chemical control such as slug pellets on our allotments and in general agriculture is that they also present a problem to other friendly garden dwellers. Many of the predators that eat pellet ingested slugs die or become very sick. This has led to a worrying drop in the amount of natural slug and snail killers in the UK.

Natural slug & snail control

Our slug and snail populations are rising in the UK as their natural predators decline in numbers. So a good step in the right direction is to encourage the predators back into our gardens.

Useful predators

Birds
- Thrushes
- Blackbirds
- Robins
- Starlings
- Crows
Amphibians
- Frogs
- Toads
Others
- Carabid Beetle
- Hedgehogs
- Badgers
- Ducks
- Chickens

Beetle trap - slug control Installing suitable bird boxes, ground cover and other wildlife friendly habits will encourage such allies to set up camp in your garden. The Carabid beetle is an effective predator against slugs and snails and can be 'trapped' by the installation of a moat around your borders. The outer sides of the moat can be built using plastic lawn edging to prevent the arriving beetles from escaping. You must provide cover for the beetles as they are not at the top of the food chain. A few roof tiles will do for them to hide beneath. Do bare in mind though; if slugs become somewhat of a rarity in your border, let the beetles escape back out into the garden to prevent them from starving and give them the opportunity to breed and hunt.

Other methods

Beer traps have been used a lot in the past, although they do require quite a lot of work - emptying and refilling should be done every few days or so. Also, in order for this method to be effective, you should place 1 beer trap per square metre of ground.

As mentions before, slugs don't like dry conditions. It have recently been observed that they even re-use their old slimy tracks to travel around to conserve against loss of moisture - life or death to a mollusk. A good method for limiting slug damage is to create 'dry areas' around your most vulnerable plants. The application of a good layer of rough or dry material should put even the hungriest slugs or snail off it's lunch:

Drying methods

Broken eggshells
Copper rings or collars (they do work!)
Ashes
Spent coffee granules (they don't like the smell or texture)
Sharp sand

Why not try...

Cultivate your soil during dry and hot weather to kill and/or expose slug populations
Mow your lawns at night - short grass is a good surface for slugs to move around on, especially in the cool of the night!
Ensure that there aren't too many cracks or crevices in your soil where slugs and snails can easily burrow down and hide from the heat of the sun or natural predators.
Purchase nematodes to control slug and snail populations: www.greengardener.co.uk/slug.htm

Credits & Links

Article written by James Middleton - www.theallotmentgarden.co.uk.

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