SLIME OF YOUR LIFE
Why you should welcome slugs and snails to your garden
THANKS to their big appetites for prize plants, slugs and snails are not always welcome visitors in our gardens.
Through their Making Friends with Molluscs campaign, The Wildlife
Trusts and RHS are hoping to reverse the bad reputation of these slimy creatures by highlighting all the benefits they bring.
There are around 150 species of slugs and snails in the UK and only a small fraction of these pose problems for gardeners. The majority contribute positively to the garden ecosystem.
While they may not be as valued as earthworms, slugs and snails provide several important services in our green spaces. Molluscs are nature’s clean-up crew; they feed on rotting plants, fungi, dung and even carrion (dead animal flesh), helping to recycle nitrogen and other nutrients and minerals back into the soil.
They can also clean algae off greenhouse glass, leaving behind their trademark trails.
Garden visitors such as frogs, hedgehogs and song thrushes rely on slugs and snails as a food source.
By supporting molluscs, gardeners help an array of wildlife.
Plus, territorial slugs, such as leopard slugs, can ward off other species of slug, protecting plants from grazing.
Here’s how you can live harmoniously alongside slugs and snails:
■ Provide shelter: Create ideal habitats for slugs and snails by leaving log piles, mulch, and natural debris in garden areas. This may make them less likely to venture into a vegetable bed.
■ Selective planting: Choose plants that slugs and snails don’t like to munch on such as lavender, rosemary, astrantia, hardy geraniums, hellebores and hydrangeas.
■ Barriers: Copper tape and wool pellets may protect vulnerable plants from slugs and snails.
■ Go on patrol: Regularly inspect plants for signs of slug and snail damage. Manually remove any molluscs, relocating them to your compost heap or areas with less vulnerable plants. Try evening patrols with a torch, as slugs and snails are most active at night-time.
■ Encourage predators: Predators such as hedgehogs, ground beetles, song thrushes, frogs and toads help to naturally regulate slug and snail populations. Encourage them by including garden habitats such as long grass, log piles and wildlife-friendly ponds. “The RHS wants everyone to help protect the plants, animals and fungi that benefit our gardens and protect the wider environment,” says Helen Bostock, RHS senior wildlife specialist. “While a small number of slugs and snails can damage certain plants, overall they bring many benefits to the garden and contribute to a balanced ecosystem. “We hope that by highlighting the crucial work that molluscs do in our gardens we can help give them a welldeserved reputation makeover.”
■ Download a free copy of the Making Friends with Molluscs guide at wildaboutgardens.org.uk