Organic pest control is the way forward for any forward-thinking, nature-loving gardener. While some slug pellets and poison can be fast and effective, they’re also harsh and chemically-based.
One of the biggest benefits of growing your own fruit or veg in a garden or allotment is the fresh, chemical-free taste you can’t get with supermarket stock. Manufacturers are already responding to calls for more organic treatments, but there are some home remedies you can easily make yourself.
How to Get Rid of Slugs in Your Garden
Slugs can go through your garden, munching through leaves, stems, and even flowers. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to control them without resorting to harsh chemicals. Gardening Naturally offers a range of products to help reduce slug damage while keeping your garden safe for plants, pets, and wildlife.
Slug nematodes are microscopic organisms that naturally target and eliminate slugs in your garden. Applied to moist soil, these tiny helpers infiltrate the slugs, stopping them from feeding within a few days. A single application remains active for weeks, making it a great long-term method.
Slug X slug traps attract slugs using beer or food-based bait, trapping them inside. This method is non-toxic and can significantly reduce slug populations over time. The traps can be placed in multiple locations, particularly near vulnerable plants.
3. Slug Rid Organic Slug Pellets
For gardeners looking for an organic approach, these pellets offer a pet- and wildlife-safe way to handle slugs. Instead of poisoning, they dehydrate the slugs, leading to a reduction in their numbers without harming other creatures in the ecosystem.
This multi-purpose product works as a barrier to deter slugs while also conditioning the soil. It helps retain moisture and suppress weeds, benefiting plant growth while discouraging unwanted visitors.
5. Grazers Slugs & Snails Natural Repellent
This spray is absorbed by plant leaves, making them unappealing to slugs. It remains active for weeks and is completely safe for pollinators, pets, and people.
6. Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer Pellets
Made with iron phosphate, these pellets disrupt the feeding patterns of slugs. After consuming them, slugs retreat underground, stopping further plant damage. Over time, the pellets break down into nutrients beneficial to the soil.
Wool pellets create an irritating surface for slugs, preventing them from crossing onto plants. As a bonus, they act as a natural mulch, keeping soil moist and slowly releasing nutrients.
8. Organic Slug and Snail Pellets
These pellets use ferric phosphate, a natural mineral that stops slugs from feeding. Approved for organic gardening, they break down harmlessly in the soil, providing added nutrients without impacting beneficial wildlife.
In addition to using these methods, attracting natural slug predators like birds, frogs, and hedgehogs can further control their numbers. By combining these approaches, you can significantly reduce slug damage and keep your plants thriving.
If you’ve got the space and time, encouraging local wildlife can be not only an effective pest control treatment, but one that will make your soul happy too.
Frogs and toads will help you get rid of the smaller slugs and snails, while hedgehogs and birds will clear up the fatter ones. You’ll be healing the ecosystem and your heart!
Getting to the root of the problem with Nematodes
It’s happened to the best of us - the pride of your garden will go from looking gorgeously healthy one day to sad and droopy the next. Where did it all go wrong?
If you’ve got carrots or cabbages planted in your vegetable patch, watch out for Carrot Fly and Cabbage Root Fly. These pesky little insects burrow down into the root of the plant and eat away from the inside out. While Carrot Flies may not kill the carrot plants completely, you’ll be left with a withered crop and maggot-infested roots. Treat with nematodes - FREE UK shipping.
Feed the birds
Birds are great pest control for slugs and snails - but they can also be useful for getting rid of caterpillars. T
Installing a bird feeder in your garden or allotment will encourage them to come and hang out with you, picking off any pests while they go. The trick is to not put too much food out, so they still have to go looking for something to fill them up.
Keep using organic, natural and harmless pest control methods to help keep the environment, your crops and ultimately yourself safe and healthy.
Easy and Quick Organic Pest Control Treatments, Products and Netting
Protect your prize vegetables with our own customer approved branded Veggiemesh, frost protection bags/covering and our popular bend-resistant poultry and animal netting which is slightly stiff but can be flexible to affix to pens, fences and gates. It's very effective at keeping your livestock contained and any rogue wild animals out. This can also be used as cage netting for fruits in your garden or allotment.