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SNAILS can be a real nuisance. Are you tired of them climbing over your plants? Then don’t worry. You’ve come to the right place.
In late summer, snails are often busy searching gardens for tasty plants to feast on.
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While it can be frustrating for many gardening enthusiasts, one professional gardener has revealed the best way to deal with it.
This trick is not only natural, but also very affordable. And maybe you already have this secret in your kitchen cupboard.
While sprinkling crushed eggshells around your plants as a barrier is a very popular gardening method to keep slugs away, says Matt Peskett, a gardener and founder of Grow as a grandpa shared what you can do instead.
According to Matt, using eggshells doesn’t work for him. There is a better way to keep slugs out of your garden for good.
Matt explains: “If I had a pound for every time I heard someone recommend using crushed eggshells as a slug barrier, I would be rich.
“The problem is that it’s mostly a bunch of old shoemaker’s work that has never offered my plants any protection.”
Instead, Matt conducted a series of experiments in his garden to see what works best to prevent slugs from eating plants.
He found that it is best to mix a dry, powdery substance with rose thorns.
The green-fingered guru emphasized: ‘In my tests, slugs cannot pass the barrier of dry, fine, powdery ‘stuff’.
“It’s pretty obvious that it sticks to them, they can’t climb over it, but the grains have to be small.”
If you want to try this trick, you can use a variety of items, many of which you probably already have in your closet.
But the cheapest trick will only cost you 45p – yes, you heard that right, thanks to a bag of flour from Sainsbury’s.
Common garden pests
Common garden pests are no cause for alarm. If you can identify them, you can work to remove them and prevent them from coming back.
Aphids (green aphid, black aphid)
Aphids are very common and can affect the growth of plants. They have small soft pear-shaped bodies and are usually green or black. You can find them in clusters on the stem of soft shoots – look especially under leaves – or you can find a sticky substance on your plants that betrays that aphids have been there sucking the sap.
White fly
These small white-winged insects are related to aphids, only 1 or 2 mm long, and look very similar to white moths as adults. They can be found on the underside of leaves, preferring younger, fresher leaves. They fly in clusters when disturbed. Their life cycle is only three weeks long, meaning that an infestation can occur very quickly.
Snails
An unmistakable, clumsy-looking body plus small sensory tentacles on its head. Slugs propel themselves forward on a single, muscular leg. They range in size from surprisingly small to frighteningly large; limax cinereoniger species can easily exceed 20 cm in length.
Caterpillar of the cabbage moth
The caterpillars of the cabbage moth are happy to penetrate into the heart of the vegetable. The caterpillars are recognizable by their yellow or brown-green hues and are hairless.
Mealybug
Mealybugs are small oval insects with a white, powdery wax coating. There are several species, many of which have what appear to be legs coming out of their sides and back. In their earliest stages of life, it is quite possible to mistake them for fungi and not recognize them as insects at all.
Matt claimed that you can use flour, coffee grounds, talcum powder, soot, wood ash, oatmeal, or plaster of paris.
All you need to do is sprinkle a two-centimetre layer of your chosen powder around your plants, so that slugs cannot get to it.
Not only will slugs have difficulty crawling after being covered in the substance, but the dry substance will also suck the slugs’ moisture, making it impossible for them to move.
Keep pests out all summer long
IF you want to ensure your home is pest-free this summer, here’s what you need to know.
Hornets and wasps – hate the smell of peppermint oil. Spray it liberally on your patio or balcony to keep them at bay.
Moths – Acidic household vinegar is effective in repelling moths. Soak some paper towels in vinegar and leave them in your wardrobe as a deterrent.
Flying ants – Herbs and spices such as cinnamon, mint, chili pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves or garlic have a deterrent effect.
Mosquitoes – plants, herbs and essential oil scents can help repel mosquitoes from inside and out. Try eucalyptus, lavender and lemongrass.
Additionally, you can save rose thorns and use them as a barrier around your plants.
Matt continues: “It turns out that a wall of horizontal, short thorns is neither edible nor crossable.
“Believe me, I have seen the snails try to destroy the thorns with their little mouths, but they failed.”
Tips to keep pests out of your garden
- Plant plants like peppermint to repel rats.
- Place Garden Net Pest Barrierover your flower beds.
- Fill open containers with beer and place them in the ground to repel slugs.
- Spraying plants with Neem oilto repel ants, flies and spiders.
- Sprinkle your flower beds with Diatomaceous earth.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid, 10 drops of peppermint oil and 4 cups of water and spray this on the flower beds.
- Place eggshells around your plants to protect them from slugs.
He advised, “Wear thick gloves, cut them into short, straight, leafless stems, and build complete barriers around the base of your plants so slugs can’t get through.”
According to Matt, the best solution to keep slugs out of his garden and prevent them from coming back was to use rose thorns and a dry substance around his plants.
The gardening expert shared, “I’m a proponent of a dual approach to plant protection, using both a powdery substance and bramble stems.”
According to Matt, this will be the “perfect protector of gastropod plants” as after much testing he found this to be the most effective, natural gardening method for deterring slugs from eating plants.
