I’m a master gardener – three easy ways to banish pesky slugs from eating your plants for good
A GARDENING expert has revealed the three easy ways to banish slugs from your garden.
Slugs can often ruin your plants after munching on them, leaving holes in the leaves, stems and flowers.
Fortunately, a gardening pro has shared three ways to eradicate the pests from ruining your garden this summer.
Head of horticulture and landscaping at Capel Manor College, Tom Cole, revealed to Homebase the tricks you can use.
Gardeners will need a garden fork, copper, rings, beer traps and grit or sand.
The first step is to remove any dead leaves around the plants as these provide a ‘haven’ for slugs.
The first way to banish slugs is to buy some copper rings, which can be found in most garden centres.
Place the copper rings around the pots and containers to deter slugs.
The copper contains ions that emit an electrical charge which gives slugs a “non-lethal shock if they try to crawl over it,” the gardening pro explains.
If you can’t get your hands on copper rings, you could also try a beer trap.
These are exactly what you think, and you can make your own with a can of beer and an old jam jar.
Simply dig a hole near plants you want to protect and put the jar inside, pouring a small amount of beer in the bottom.
The garden expert said: “Slugs will be attracted to the scent, crawl in overnight and drown.
“Be sure to replace the beer regularly for maximum effect.”
The final way to banish slugs is by creating barriers around vulnerable plants.
You can use grit or sharp sand to do this as both are too sharp for slugs to crawl over.
The gardening expert also recommends turning the soil regularly to ensure it stays dry as slugs love moist surfaces.