Slugs! How do you get rid of them?!

[touchstone]

Nematodes are probably the way to go, not sure if they'd get rid of slugs in the house though. Porridge oats were suggested on another gardening site, the slugs are supposed to eat them and then they swell in their stomachs killing them, but the way they eat the chickens mixed corn I'm not so sure!

I've lost most of my dahlia's and delphiniums this year.

 

[ponydi]

Will go round with salt again - I'm collecting handfuls in the house every night

 

[Sandstone1]

Ground up egg shell.

 

[_GG_]

Ground up egg shell.

My mum just said this...my stockpiling will begin in earnest

 

[Theocat]

Another vote for nematodes - safe for everything else and I found them very effective

 

[whizzer]

I've used beer traps, effective but revolting to empty. Ground up seashells work well around plants. This year I've discovered wool pellets,you scatter a handful & wet them, they form a mat which the slugs won't go over. Not expensive & organic as well!

 

[Rob Lakeside]

I get loads of them in my garden. I've tried the beer thing, salt, nothing works but slug pellets. I don't like using pellets because of the amount of birds and wildlife in my garden, so I go around most days and scoop up the slugs, putting them in the bin so nothing can eat them.

Horrid things.

So pleased to see some one taking an enviromental view, slug pellets should only be used in a limited use and best placed under twigs and branches to limit other animals eating the pellets or the dieing slugs.
beer works till my local fox finds he to likes this beverage

 

[Rob Lakeside]

Remember Slugs and snails do have a beneficial purpose, to eat and breakdown dead organic matter. Were else do we have large amounts of rich organic matter, livery yards!

 

[chestnut cob]

So pleased to see some one taking an enviromental view, slug pellets should only be used in a limited use and best placed under twigs and branches to limit other animals eating the pellets or the dieing slugs.
beer works till my local fox finds he to likes this beverage

I do use pellets, but I try to put them down in the evening (when the birds have usually gone to bed) and get out in the morning to scoop up the dead/ dying ones so the birds can't eat them. I don't often use them though, only if they've really been attacking something. Early in the spring my garden was totally bare, they ate *everything*. I did scatter some pellets, cue dead slugs everywhere but lots of plants starting to sprout. Thankfully the plants are all strong enough now to cope with a bit of slug munching so I mostly am leaving them to it. I've learnt my lesson re small plants now too and anything I'm growing from seed is started off in the conservatory and stays there until strong enough to live outside.

The pellets don't seem to have affected the bird population, given the dawn chorus here is deafening at 4.30am (I have to get up and shut the windows!). I have tree and house sparrows, a pair of robins, starlings, blackbirds, numerous pigeons and crows, a song thrush (which explains why my garden is full of empty snail shells!), several blue tits, and as of yesterday, what I think was a yellow wagtail

LOL @ your drunken fox!