5 Tips for Preventing Slugs in Your Garden

Slugs can wreak havoc on your garden, eating through plants and vegetables and leaving a slimy trail in their midst. 

This can ruin your shrubbery or mess up your pretty garden display. Whilst many people use salt and slug pellets to rid their gardens of these small bugs, there are much safer and more effective methods to opt for.

Today, Atlas Sheds will provide you with some top tips for keeping slugs from munching on your flowers and fruit. 

1. Use Copper Tape

Copper tape is a great way to keep your garden slug-free. 

This gives the slugs a mild shock when touched, discouraging them from crossing the barrier. Copper tape can be wrapped around plant pots, raised beds, and garden shed doors to prevent the slugs from getting in. 

This is a great alternative to harmful chemicals which can destroy plants and wildlife. 

2. Create a Slug Trap

Slug traps are an easy and cost-effective way to keep slugs away from your greenery.

This works by trapping the pest using bait, which you can then pick up and remove from your garden. You can create a slug trap by using common household items. 

Here’s a simple example to get you started:

Beer trap

• Choose a small container like a yoghurt pot or plastic container. 
• Then, dig a hole in the garden and place this container inside so that the rim is level with the surface of the soil.
• Place a small amount of beer inside and wait until any slugs fall in.
• Remove the slugs from the container and repeat.

3. Natural Predators

Attracting natural predators to your garden is an eco-friendly and effective way to deter slugs from your garden. 

Wildlife, such as hedgehogs, birds, and frogs, all prey on slugs. Here are some easy ways to attract these predators to your garden:

     1. Hedgehogs 

• Place cat food or formulated hedgehog food around your garden
• Create small gaps in your wall or fence for them to enter
• Create a hedgehog house or leave wild areas of your garden untouched

     2. Birds

• Add a bird bath or water fountain to your garden
• Place bird feeders around the area
• Plant trees and shrubs for birds to nest in

     3. Frogs

• Install a pond in your garden with shallow edges
• Add rocks and dense vegetation around the pond to offer shelter 
• Leave areas of your garden shady

4. Barrier Methods

Placing physical barriers in your garden is a great way to keep unwanted guests out. 

One popular barrier method is to crush and place used eggshells around the base of plants to deter slugs from eating them. 

Another barrier method includes placing a ring of sand or grit around plants or garden beds to prevent slugs from getting over into your shrubbery. 

5. Planting Resistant Plants

Slugs find various plants unappealing, so the best way to divert them from your garden is to use them as a natural deterrent. 

Lavender, Rosemary, Foxglove, Ferns, and Sage are all unappealing to slugs due to their aromatic, hairy, or tough foliage. 

You can plant these as a barrier around the edge of your garden or surround vegetables or shrubbery with them to protect your plants.