Fed up of slugs nibbling on your plants? You might be tempted to reach for some slug pellets the next time you’re in the garden centre. Unfortunately slug pellets are not only harmful to slugs and snails, they’re also harmful to other wildlife, your pets and small children. Luckily for all of us there are some wildlife friendly alternatives to slug pellets that you can safely use to protect your plants.
What’s wrong with traditional slug pellets?
Traditional slug pellets contain metaldehyde. Metaldehyde is the toxic ingredient which is harmful to not only slugs but other wildlife as well. Birds or hedgehogs are extremely unlikely to eat the actual pellets but they do eat the dead snail or slug that has eaten them and that’s when they come to harm.
“On 19 December 2018, the British government banned the use of metaldehyde slug pellets outdoors from spring 2020; after this date it would only be legal to use it in permanent greenhouses. In July 2019, the ban was overturned after the High Court in London agreed with a challenge to its legality. Metaldehyde pellets returned to the UK market for the foreseeable future.” – Wikipedia
Getting rid of slugs without killing them
To be completely wildlife friendly you don’t want to be killing off the snails and slugs. Because we’re looking at wildlife friendly alternatives to slug pellets in this article, I won’t be going into the many ways you can drown slugs or kill them in an ‘eco-friendly’ way. We’ll be looking at ways to distract, remove or deter slugs and snails or encouraging nature to do its natural thing.
Wildlife Friendly Alternatives to Slug Pellets
If using just one method doesn’t work, don’t give up and just try another one instead. If you use a combination of different methods you’re going to be the most successful.
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1. Hand Removal
Go out at night with a torch and collect all the snails and slugs you can find in a bucket. Then relocate them. It’s best to take them a bit further than your neighbours garden!
2. Damp Cardboard
Slugs and snails like to hide in dark, damp places. Put a piece of damp cardboard in the garden, held down with a rock and you can then venture out and check it regularly and collect and remove any of the slugs that have congregated there.
3. Encouraging Predators
Slugs are food to many other animals, so in some ways it’s best to encourage their predators into your garden so they can eat the offenders. If you build a wildlife pond you’ll encourage frogs (and loads of other wildlife and insects) into your garden and let nature do its thing. A wildlife pond doesn’t have to be huge either. Other animals that find slugs tasty are ducks, hedgehogs, birds, slow worms and even beetles. Put a log pile in a corner of your garden to encourage beetles and they’ll keep the slug population down.
How to Have an Insect Friendly Garden
4. Egg Shells
Crushed up egg shells help to deter most snails and slugs as they find it hard to ‘walk’ over them. Make sure they’re dry before you put them out, you might need to replace them after rain. (If your family eat a lot of eggs this method could work, but it’s probably best to use at least one other method when using egg shells).
5. Wood Ash
Working in much the same way as egg shells, wood ash deters slugs. It’s also quite good for your soil.
6. Coffee Grounds
If you’re a coffee drinker then don’t throw away the leftover coffee grounds, spread them around the plants you want to protect and slugs and snails will normally steer clear.
7. Copper Tape
This is an interesting one. Slugs can’t cross over copper tape. Particularly easy to use for plants in pots or planters, although you can put a circle of tape around plants you want to protect.
8. Wool Waste Pellets
Wool waste that’s a by-product of the wool industry is turned into pellets which you can then spread around your plants. It will swell slightly and the fibres repel slugs. The wool pellets eventually degrade and actually act as plant food, so they have two uses.
9. Grow Plants that Slugs don’t like
There are certain plants that slugs and snails just don’t like. Plant these near to plants you want to protect and it’s thought that the slugs will stay away. Slugs don’t like garlic or chives.
10. Planting Slug Friendly Plants
It might seem strange to suggest planting anything that slugs like, but it’s one way to protect your other plants. If you grow lettuce or lawn chamomile (which has daisy-like flowers) next to a plant you love and don’t want the slug to eat, they’ll go for that instead. There are several plants that will attract slugs and snails to them. If you’re happy to sacrifice a few plants to save the others this could be a good option for you. Alternatively, wait for the slugs to approach the tasty plant and then pop them in a bucket and relocate them.
Eco-Friendly, Organic Slug Pellets
It is possible to buy organic slug pellets but these will still kill the slugs and snails. If you keep killing off the slugs in this manner you’ll end up having to rely on this method as you’ll deter all their natural predators over time.
There you have it, 10 ways to help stop snails and slugs from munching on your favourite plants! You can also try watering the garden in the morning as slugs like the damp and are most active at night. Do you have any other methods that don’t involve killing the slugs?
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