PESTS VS PEST KILLERS

Pests What are they?

Slugs, snails and anything else that will destroy your plants and eat their way through your veg patch.

Who loves them?

The RHS, which in 2022 declared it would no longer class slugs and snails as pests but an important part of the garden ecosystem. A new campaign from the RHS and the Wildlife Trust encourages us to change our perceptions and appreciate slugs. “The majority [of slugs and snails] contribute in positive ways to gardens, feeding on rotting plants, fungi, dung and even carrion, helping to recycle nitrogen and other nutrients and minerals back into the soil and providing food for some of our much-loved garden visitors including frogs, song thrushes and ground beetles,” says Guy Barter, the RHS’s chief horticulturalist, who adds that gardeners should consider special habitats for them with piles of logs and natural debris, and politely removing them to the compost heap every night.

What the haters say

“If I’m growing lettuces, I’m afraid I’ll use [organic] slug pellets,” declares Guinness. “I want to grow food for me, not for them.”

Winners

The 150 species of British slugs and snails.

Losers

Lettuces.

Pest killers What are they?

Anything that will deal with the slimy things, from slug pellets to eggshells and coffee grounds.

Who loves them?

Bunny Guinness, if she’s growing lettuces. Dowding doesn’t use slug pellets but says he is “very much in favour of controlling them” and keeps a tidy garden, as well as eschewing wooden sides to his beds, which he says are a haven for slugs.

What the haters say

Gardeners should, says Barter, simply “choose plants that are more resilient to slugs, such as lavender, rosemary, hardy geraniums and hydrangeas.” Forget barriers like copper tape and wool pellets, he says; “our research has found these to have little benefit.”

Winners

Gardeners – to a point. Using chemicals to get rid of pests, or even salt to shrivel them, will ultimately make its way into and affect the quality of the soil.

Losers

Slugs.