I’m a pest control expert – how to keep slugs & snails out of your garden using a cheap kitchen essential

KEEPING pests out of your potted plants and flower beds can feel like a full-time job.

Snails and slugs are active all year round but are often warm weather culprits as they bury themselves in the cool soil to avoid dehydration.

ITV

Chef and avid gardener Clodagh McKenna appeared on This Morning where she shared her tips for ridding your garden of slugs and snails[/caption]

Irish chef and gardener Clodagh McKenna appeared on British television show This Morning, where she discussed her DIY hacks to keeping these pests away from her plants, reports The Daily Express.

Clodagh shared her quick and easy hack to protecting her plants, saying: “I use coffee – so my leftover coffee, it’s a big thing, because slugs hate wet soil, so if you can make a ring around you plants with coffee.”

“I don’t know if this will work for everybody but it works for me,” Clodagh said.

Slugs and snails are particularly active in the springtime as they feed on seedlings.

Slugs are most active at night when it is warm and damp.

So while you may want to avoid a nighttime coffee for yourself, it’s a good idea to add some to your garden as part of your bedtime routine – it doesn’t need to be decaf for these pests.

Because slugs crawl through the soil, they have soft and sensitive bodies which can become easily irritated.

As well as coffee, gardeners recommend using wood ash, sand or bark to repel slugs.

According to The Daily Express, some plants are natural slug repellents, so experts suggest planting these as companion plants to protect your garden.

These repellent plants include alliums, geraniums, foxgloves and strong-smelling mint.