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Gardener Mark Lane has discussed the creatures, who love to nibble on plants, with Express.co.uk. He detailed a number of tricks to get rid of them.
Mark, a BBC presenter who appears on Gardener’s World, explained there are “several options” when it comes to dealing with gastropods.
“The first option is tackling the mucus on the belly,” the gardening expert said.
Slugs have delicate underbellies, which can be easily damaged by rough items.
Anything jagged in the soil will deter the slugs from getting to your plants, at least for a while.
Mark, who also recently detailed the best plants to plant from October to guarantee ‘magnificent display next year’, said: “There are certain rough materials that mucus belly doesn’t like, including crushed up shells.
“If you’ve got loads and loads of eggshells, crush them all up, sprinkle them around your prize plant and they don’t like that.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, an eager slug will probably find their way to your plant but you want to try and slow them down.”
Eggshells are not the only thing slugs aren’t keen on. Simple gravel will also help.
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“You can use a really rough, angular gravel for the roughness,” Mark added.
Then there is copper, which has a special effect on slugs.
Copper gives slugs little shock-style sensations, slowing down their slime production when it reacts with their mucus.
“You can also use things like copper, copper rings, or copper plates,” Mark explained.
“The whole idea with copper is as the slug goes over the compound, it gives them a little electric electrical shock.
“You can lay that around your plants.”
Mark also discussed with Express.co.uk his garden must have to kill weeds.
Additionally, the clever gardening trick will help your plants grow bigger and healthier.
Once you have weeded your flowerbed, Mark recommends using mulch.
Mark recommends “a five centimetre layer of normally organic matter”.
He went on: “The best things for mulch are wooden bark, homemade compost – if it’s really well-rotted – and a thing called leaf mould, which you make by collecting your own leaves in a compost box.
“Now the whole idea about putting a thick layer of that down is basically stopping the light to the soil, which means that any other weeds that might still be in the soil can’t grow because they’ve got no light that they can get to.”
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