How to get rid of slugs and snails

An easy DIY and cheap means of attacking the slug population is to set up beer traps using any bargain price beer or lager.

Beer traps are a non-invasive way of killing slugs and my favourite way of getting rid of slugs and snails, effective but smelly! You can buy specially manufactured traps with a lid, so that the summer rain does not dilute the beer, and reduce the allure of the trap. The beer attracts the slimy slugs which slide into the traps and drown. Raise the trap about 5cms above the soil so the beneficial insects do not fall in. You can also make your own recycling margarine and yogurt tubs.

Beer traps are effective; the downside is that slug traps need emptying regularly and replenished with fresh beer, and that’s when the smell gets to you. Without being too descriptive, combine beer with dead slugs and a few days fermentation. Not for the faint-hearted but effective and no pesticides.

Nematodes are an effective method of killing slugs and snails, but they require some hard work because they have to be watered into the soil, just as it is warming up, and then repeated 6 weeks later. The packets can also be a bit expensive, retailing at around £14.00 for around 40m2 at 2021 prices.  If you use repeatedly, year after year,  over time, the slug and snail population will reduce as you stop them from re populating. If the prospect of watering Nematodes over your garden is too much to contemplate and too expensive, apply only to the areas most at risk, say the salad area of the vegetable plot or around a Hostas bed. Also, if you have a big problem with slugs and snails, you could use Nematodes for the first 2-3 years to reduce the population,  and then move to one of the cheaper methods listed below.

Nematodes come with instructions to mix them with water for the correct concentration. To be effective, the soil temperature must be at least 5 degrees. Once purchased Nematodes need to be refrigerated and they usually have a use by date, so it's best to order or buy them when you are ready to use them and you expect the soil will be warm enough. 

 Nematodes are an effective way of getting rid of slugs and snails, and it is an organic method of killing slugs. Slug nematodes live in the soil after watering in and are microscopic transparent worms which feed and multiply inside the slug. An infected slug stops feeding within 3 to 5 days and the nematodes multiply inside the slug. When it decomposes, a new generation of nematodes emerges.

The slugs which attack potatoes live in the soil underground, which means slug pellets are ineffective. Nematodes are the only way to combat slugs eating potatoes.

On a warm summer evening it's not unusual to find many slugs and snail sliding around munching on precious plants, especially after it has rained.  Slugs and snails tend to be more active after dark, and so a torch is helpful to highlight them for the favoured way to pick them off, (unwanted BBQ tongs are good for this) and then drop the slug into jar with beer or water to drown and put a lid on the container or they will escape. Pick and dispatch. 

Alternatively, you can skewer them on the spot,  depending on your squeamish count, but this method is quite satisfying and definitely kills them.

Slugs and snails do not like to travel over sharp prickly surfaces. As a result many of the slug and snail deterrents on the market are designed to form a barrier over which the slug or snail will be reluctant to slide across. Sharp gravel and egg shells work to a limited extent.  There are propriety commercial barrier methods such as 'Slug gone' said to be a natural wool barrier, 'Slug be gone' natural pellets;  Neudorff Sluggo Slug and Snail Killer organic and effective.

If the slugs have munched a bedding plant, don’t despair. If the plant is not too badly eaten, you can dig it up and rehabilitate in a place of safety away from the slug. Often, it will grow back and later you can plant it back out again.

The plant in the first image below has been badly chewed by slugs, and the second image is the same rejuvenating back to life ready for planting out again. If slugs have chewed the plant, especially bedding plants, many of which they relish, dig up and put into a pot. Place somewhere safe, such as a greenhouse, under glass, where you can keep an eye on it and give it two /three weeks in a recovery and it will regrow.  Check out also slug resistant bedding plants.