Getting rid of slugs permanently is not easy, especially if you also want to keep your flower garden. While there are plenty of methods on how to get rid of slugs, few if any of them are actually permanent solutions.
To get rid of slugs permanently you have to use their predators, ducks, snakes, frogs, and hedgehogs will eat the slugs. As long as at least one of these predators is living in your garden you will rarely see a slug. If you do not want to use their predators, then making a container garden will solve your slug problem, as long as the pots are placed on the pavement and not on the soil directly.
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Slugs are a vital part of our gardens, as they eat decaying organic material they will speed up the decaying process, and recycle the nutrients of dead and decaying plants. Removing slugs from the garden means that the decaying organic material is most likely going to be broken down by bacteria. This is similar to what is happening in a compost pile, although a lot slower.
Beer traps and similar home remedies will get rid of some slugs but these are not permanent solutions to them. If you want to get rid of slugs naturally then check out my recent article How To Get Rid Of Slugs Naturally? ( Top 15 Ways ).
How To Get Rid Of Slugs Permanently
Getting rid of slugs permanently can be challenging since they are persistent pests. However, there are several measures you can take to minimize their population and impact on your garden. One effective approach is to create physical barriers around susceptible plants using materials like copper tape, gravel, or coarse sand, as slugs are deterred by these textures. You can also encourage natural predators like frogs, toads, and birds to your garden by providing suitable habitats and food sources. Another method is to use slug traps filled with beer or a yeast-based solution, which attracts and drowns slugs.
Regularly removing any hiding spots such as boards, rocks, or debris where slugs can hide during the day can also help. Additionally, consider cultivating plants that slugs dislike, such as certain herbs or varieties with tough or hairy leaves. Finally, practicing good garden hygiene, such as removing decaying organic matter and keeping the garden clean and free of excess moisture, can make the environment less favorable for slugs. While complete eradication may be difficult, a combination of these methods can help reduce slug populations and minimize damage to your garden.
Ducks
By far one of the easiest ways of getting rid of slugs permanently is to get a couple of ducks. Ducks love eating different pests from the garden, and they will eat any slug or snail they can find. This way you do not have to do major changes to your garden and you can also keep all your plants, even the ones that tend to be eaten by the slugs. Just keep in mind that ducks will sometimes nibble on the leaves of some plants, but you will at least get rid of the slugs.
The larger your garden is the more ducks you will need, although you will definitely notice a significant drop in the number of slugs with just one duck. If you have kept poultry before then this will be easy for you, if not then you will have to learn a couple of new things. You can actually use instant coffee to stop slugs, for more information check out my recent article Can I Use Instant Coffee To Deter Slugs? ( Pros & Cons ).
Downsize Your Garden
The bigger your garden is the more slugs you will have, not only because there are more food sources for the slugs but because they can easily hide from predators. A smaller garden is a lot easier to keep nice and tidy, and the number of slugs will be relatively small, if at all present. The smaller your garden is, the easier it will be to control their numbers with beer traps, slug pellets, or copper rings.
Slug Predators
If you do not want to do something disruptive in your garden like chopping off all your plants, just to get rid of slugs, you can use their predators. Snakes, frogs, and hedgehogs will eat slugs, and as long as they have somewhere to hide and some water they will move into your garden. Slugs are also attracted to small bodies of water as the humidity around them tends to be higher, and their predators will be there waiting for them.
Snakes, frogs, and hedgehogs are nocturnal predators, so you will not even notice when they are picking off the slugs. These predators need a small pond, which you can easily create, just make sure that there is constant water in it, especially if you want frogs to move in. If you want to get rid of slugs without killing them, then check out my recent article How To Stop Slugs Eating Plants Without Killing Them ( 5 Easy Ways ).
Make A Container Garden
One of the great benefits of container gardens is that they rarely have slug problems. Not because there are no slugs in the garden but because it is a lot easier to keep them off your plants. Usually, container gardens are placed on pavements, small rocks, or concrete, if you place the pots directly on the garden soil, then it is only a matter of time until the slugs will start decimating your plants.
Pots that have been placed on pavements, rocks, concrete, and so on will rarely have slugs, as they will have to cross across the pavement and they hate open areas. Although in case some slugs try to go after the potted plants, you can use copper tape around the pot, or even smear vaseline or VD40 on the side of the pot, as these are very effective slug barriers.
Till The Garden In The Early Spring
I am not a big fan of tilling, as it disrupts the topsoil, although it can also reduce the number of slugs significantly. Slugs tend to hibernate during the winter underground, and the eggs that have been laid in the fall will start to hatch in the spring. If you till the soil during this time, you will start to notice small white clumps in the soil, these are their eggs. You do not even have to remove them, as most birds will eat the eggs and any slug that has been woken up prematurely due to the tilling.
Pave Your Garden
If you want to get rid of slugs permanently then you will have to make your garden as inhospitable for them as possible. The main reason why slugs thrive in our gardens is that we have a lot of plants and a nice thick lawn which they use to hide and feed. Removing the lawn is not enough, sooner or later weeds will pop out and the slugs will use them to hide from predators.
If you pave a large portion of your garden then you will get rid of most slugs, and you will also be able to keep a smaller garden in one of the corners. Slugs will rarely cross pavement as it is an open space, where they are very vulnerable to predators. With that being said, pavement doesn’t really look good in a garden, especially if most of your garden is just pavement, but who knows, I have seen plenty of houses that have their entire garden paved.
Key Takeaways
- To get rid of slugs permanently use ducks, downsize your garden, make a container garden, till the soil, and use pave a portion of your garden.
- A flamethrower is not an effective way of getting rid of slugs permanently.
- Tilling the soil will reduce the number of slugs at the beginning of the season significantly.
