10 ways to minimize slugs and snails in the garden

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I just received a comment on my main blog, Tricia’s Musings, from a regular reader and he said that he lost most of his Hyacinth flowers to slugs this year. What a shame! He must have a very heavy infestation of slugs. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a slug on my hyacinth nor most of my early Spring bloomers.

How do you know if you have slugs or snails in your garden?

Well if you notice that your plants leaves have irregular holes in them or perhaps slime trails on the soil and leaves you probably have slugs or snails. You might also see them crawling on your plant leaves in the evening after dark.

Slugs can do a lot of damage to young plants and seedlings. They can literally strip a young plant bare or even eat it down to the ground. You might try cutting a 2 Liter pop bottle and creating a collar to place around young tender plants if you have slugs in your garden as this will help protect them.

Slugs are particularly fond of Hostas and Delphiniums. However having said that I’ve seen them on about half the plants I grow in my garden so keep any eye out for signs of slug damage.

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