Slugs and snails can be two of the most troublesome pests in any garden, as they enjoy munching on flowers, plants, and any foliage they come into contact with.
Both slugs and snails can destroy a garden’s year of hard work as not only do they enjoy eating vegetable crops, but they can greatly damage or weaken plants meaning they will unlikely survive the winter.
They can also spread diseases and can contaminate food crops with their slimy trail. Plus, they will reproduce at a rapid speed, meaning these pests can be difficult to get rid of once they have infested a garden.
However, there is a “low-maintenance” and natural way of keeping slugs and snails out of your garden. Lee Burkhill, also known as the Garden Ninja, is a multi-award-winning garden designer and BBC television presenter of the gardening show ‘Garden Rescue who has explained the best way to keep these pests away.
In a video online, Lee said: “Now slugs and snails can be a real pain in the garden. You can put in loads of effort planting your flower beds and then you come out one morning and all of a sudden all your foliage has been decimated by their rasping little mouths eating away all that beautiful greenery.”
How to keep slugs and snails away?
It is not recommended that you use any pest repellents or harsh chemicals in your garden to get rid of garden, as not only can it greatly harm the local environment and wildlife, but can potentially greatly weaken your plants.
One of the most natural yet effective ways to keep slugs and nails out of your garden is by carefully selecting and planting flowers which both slugs and snails absolutely hate.
Plants that have hard-to-eat leaves are highly frangent and will keep slugs and snails away as they have natural protection against these pests. Some plants can even produce bitter substances which can be poisonous to plants.
The more plants you have in your garden that are difficult to eat or mess with their senses, then the less slugs or snails you are likely to have in your garden.
Lee said: “Now slugs and snails tend to prefer young, fresh foilage. They also don’t like course, hairy or really waxy leaves.
“It makes it harder for them to eat their way through a leaf, and it also means they have a harder time sliding over with all of that slime and mucus to get onto the plants, and that is key when picking these plants. “
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What to plant?
Lee said that alchemilla mollis, also known as lady mantles, has a “secret weapon” against slugs. He said: “Its tiny hair-covered leaves which means that slugs and snails always give it a bit of a swerve.”
Another hardy flower that you can plant is penstemons, also known as beard tongues which not only keep slugs and snails away but will blossom for long periods of time. Lee said: “[These] seem to be overlooked by beginner gardeners and I’m not sure why because slugs and snails will avoid them at all costs.
“The beauty of penstemons is if you’re in a relatively mild area, they are sem-evergreen, meaning that they will last throughout the winter and be a bit of greenery before next spring.”
Fox Gloves are common in most gardens, but they are another brilliant plant to keep slugs and snails away. Lee said: “Once again, flog gloves have that slightly hairy leaf that puts them off.”
Other flowers that can get rid of these troublesome pests are hydrangeas and lavender due to their highly fragrant scents. Not only will slugs and snails be deterred from entering your garden, but these beautiful flowers will add lots of color to wherever they are planted.
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