Want to keep your vegetable garden productive? Slugs can be very costly. Cathy Isom fills us about how to deal with a slimy critter that you don’t want bugging your garden. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Slugs are slimy but tough-skinned terrestrial mollusks typically lack a shell and secrete mucus for protection. But they can be a serious plant pest.
Here are some ways to steer them clear from your garden, without harming them. Having raised garden beds is one of the best defenses. Building up barriers to keep them out is another, in the form of ground tobacco stems, oak leaf mulch, copper strips, coffee grounds, coarse sand and seaweed.
Slugs like to do their dirty work at night. They like dark and dampened areas. So one way to get rid of them is to attract these spaces for them. This can be done by setting wood planks, plant pots, and cardboard boxes in, near or around the garden. They’ll congregate in these spots during the day, making it easier to collect them up and take them elsewhere.
Another good way to lure the snails into these spaces is to put a little food out for them to nibble on. Try old cabbage leaves or citrus peels.
I’m Cathy Isom…