If you’re struggling with slugs in your garden, one expert has shared a surprisingly easy yet effective way to deter these pests from eating your plants
Autumn has arrived, and green-fingered Brits are being urged to take action. Slugs and snails will stop at nearly nothing to strip your garden of everything you lovingly planted.
You’ll find them munching through strawberries, raspberries, tomato plants, potato foliage and every type of flower in their quest to satisfy their seemingly unending hunger. What’s worse, throughout the autumn slugs and snails will mate and lay eggs, resulting in even more of these pests next year.
If you’ve already tried your hand at the common natural methods to deter slugs and snails, a gardening pro has shared the “final line of defence”. TikTok user @gardening. with.ish has revealed how to make slugs and snails “stay away” from your garden plants.
So if things like using crushed eggshells, spreading coffee grounds or using copper tape aren’t working for you, this method could be the answer. The TikToker added that it can be used all season, too.
He said: “If slugs are getting to your plants still, then this is your final line of defence.” He claimed that all you need is a bulb of garlic, water and a spray bottle, reports the Express.
The gardening expert explained that garlic contains an amazing compound that “slugs detest the smell and taste of” – it makes any plant “taste absolutely disgusting”. As a result, not only will these pests “stay away from them”, they “won’t eat them” either.
To make the garlic spray, take 200ml of water and add three or four crushed of finely diced garlic cloves. Leave the garlic to soak for about a day or two.
This will now contain a compound called allicin, which creates the sulphuric taste and aroma that you’d associate with garlic that slugs “absolutely hate”.
Then, dilute the mixture with more water – approximately up to around one litre or so to ensure it’s safe for your plants. Finally, strain the solution and transfer it into a spray bottle.
This can then be gently sprayed over most of your plants, such as your hostas and other delicate plants that slugs typically target. You can repeat this process weekly to form a protective barrier on the plants that will make slugs and snails “stay firmly away”.