Monty Don reveals how to keep slugs out of gardens

Slugs are commonly found during the hotter months, eating garden plants and vegetable patches.

The pest will eat leaves and enjoy growing fruit, leaving gardeners often disappointed and angry.

However, Monty Don has shared some key advice to make sure slugs don’t ruin your garden joy.

Monty Don shares how to keep your garden slug-free

Writing in a blog post, Monty wrote: “Slugs and snails are widely regarded as the gardeners’ public enemy number one.

“But they are superb at recycling waste vegetative matter but do not discriminate between a fallen leaf and a delicious young seedling.

“Slugs live largely underground in the soil and like damp conditions.

“Snails live above the ground and love dark nooks and crannies such as old brickwork or a nice dry yew hedge, as well as clustering around the base of containers.”

The gardening expert said there are several ways to stop slugs harming your plants and vegetable patches.

How to Get Rid of These Common Garden Pests

Monty explained: “Avoid slug pellets as they are chemicals that can harm other wildlife. Instead have a small slug-free cold frame or tape where you can raise tender young plants and check for slugs daily.

“Do not feed plants any more than is absolutely necessary and always feed the soil, not the plant.

“This will avoid a spurt of soft, sappy growth that slugs love.

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“Without stressing them with sudden temperatures or cultivation changes, grow your plants as hard as possible which means do not mollycoddle them.

“Finally, encourage a wide range of predators into the garden. I have masses of thrushes, frogs, toads, beetles, centipedes, shrews and a few hedgehogs.”

What garden hack have you found useful? Tell us in the comments below.