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Slugs
and Snails
The most frequent
question asked on gardening programmes is how to get rid of slugs and
snails. Mild and wet winters mean the slug and snail population is likely
to be huge and it means that they will be happily chomping their way
through your choicest flowers and vegetables.
If you want to avoid
using poisonous slug pellet than can kill wildlife, try the following
methods of control:
- First of all
you can physically remove them by picking them off plants. You might
get some strange looks from neighbours as you venture out with torch
and bucket in hand to collect them at the best time - at night! It
can be good to wear a rubber glove as it is a messy job. Any slugs
and snails collected can be killed off by being placed in salty water.
Neighbours tend not to like it if you empty the bucket over the fence!
- An alternative
is to attract the slugs where they can be killed or collected. Putting
down grapefruit halves upside down - eat the inside first - will attract
them and you can easily pick up the halves and dispose of it with
slugs attached.
- As you know,
slugs like a drop of beer and in their eagerness for the tipple, they
fall in and drown in beer traps. The traps are available from garden
centres, etc., but it is easy to make your own. Get two margarine
tubs. Prick holes in one and place it in the other. Sink them into
the ground so that the top is slightly above the ground level. Fill
with beer. Remove the dead slugs by lifting out the inner tub - the
beer will stay in the outer one - and empty out the slugs. In this
way the beer will last longer.
- Snail Ban is
a natural product that acts as a barrier to slugs and snails. This
absorbent mineral, which plays havoc with the pests' slime glands,
is produced from prehistoric rock found in Australia. To protect a
plant or group of seedlings apply it in a continuous ring, in a strip
about 8cm wide by 6mm deep. One application should last about a year.
It is available from garden centres, etc., or you can buy it direct
from Natural is Best, telephone
0151 448 9100. It costs £7.35 per 2 kg pack, £20.50 per
10 kg and £29.95 per 20 kg - all including p&p.
- Slug & Snail
tape is another product designed to deter slugs and snails. It is
an adhesive copper tape that can be applied around pots and containers.
When slugs attempt to cross it, it apparently delivers a small shock
to repel them. Gardening Which? magazine tested it and found it very
effective against slugs, but less successful for snails. At £7.00
for 4 metres, Slug & Snail tape remains effective for one year
and is available from: Green
Science Controls, telephone 01244 281333.
- Finally, try
a biological control. Nematodes are tiny worms that are natural enemies
of slugs. An application by watering can lasts about six weeks. Once
the slugs disappear, the nematodes die back to natural levels without
leaving residue. Rain doesn't affect the nematodes as they thrive
in moist conditions when slugs are active. Ask at your local garden
centre for Nemaslug or contact
Microbio's free advice line, 0800 085 3105, for more information.
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