12.05.03
Win
the war against slugs!
Slugs
are officially the No.1 pest in gardens around the country, munching
their way through thousands of pounds worth of valuable plants and
seedlings every year. That's why Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Gardeners' World Magazine invited
its readers to share their tips for controlling slugs and snails,
and also suggesting ornamental plants that these pests simply don't
touch.
The
June issue of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Gardeners' World Magazine (on-sale 9th May) reveals
the most favoured approach to combating slugs is to wage a night-time
raid on the garden with a torch and a bucket of salt water.
Other
inventive reader techniques of deterring these pests include:
- Sprinkling
slug hotspots with coffee granules or ground ginger
- Applying
WD40 or Vaseline to pot rims
- Creating
beer traps that contain dead slugs to entice newcomers in
- A
snip with sharp scissors
While
the use of slug pellets is controversial, some 54% of readers claim
to have used slug pellets at least once in their gardening lifetime.
When
compiling the survey results, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Gardeners' World Magazine discovered
the amazing influence on well-behaved gardeners of these "odious
molluscs".
Television
presenter Chris Beardshaw says in the magazine: "It seems incredible
that one of the most sophisticated and advanced organisms on earth
is reduced to such extraordinary behavior by one of the most primitive.
This is a creature classified as an unsegmented gastropod, and it
spends its life among the detritus of the garden. It thrives in
moist and humid sites, hiding away from the sun and predators during
the day emerging to forage at night".
Most
gardeners are likely to encounter the garden slug, Arion hortensis,
a grey or brown specimen around 4cm long. Approaches to tackling
the menace range from the passive and natural techniques through
to all-out warfare. Passive techniques include watering in the morning
so slugs can't use trails of water at night to travel from one plant
to the next. A natural approach is to encourage slug-eating birds
and other predators, such as thrushes, frogs, toads and hedgehogs,
to the garden. As Editor Adam Pasco explained, "In the great
circle of life slugs and snails certainly have a part to play, feeding
a host of our most loved garden visitors. Without the pests we wouldn't
enjoy the antics of their predators."
The
June issue also reveals the most slug resistant plants gardeners
should grow. "Why grow slug food," says Adam Pasco, "when
there are plenty of great plants to choose from that slugs will
avoid."
Find
out more in the June issue of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Gardeners' World Magazine.
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