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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Zahna Eklund

Gardening expert shares 'inexpensive' way to banish slugs - and plants that repel them

If you're trying to get your garden ready for summer, then you'll probably have come into contact with a few slugs while tending to your plants, as the pesky creatures love to eat holes in leaves, stems, flowers, and bulbs.

Slugs mostly feed on plants at night, but the worst damage is often done during warm and humid periods, making the spring and summer months a hotspot for slug activity - which just so happens to be the time of year you'd most like your flowers not to have large holes taken out of them.

And while slugs can be a pain to deal with, gardening expert Jack Sutcliffe has said there's a "simple and inexpensive" way to solve your slug problem, which may not even cost you a penny if you're already partial to a beer.

Beer could help you keep slugs out of your garden (Getty Images)

Jack, the co-founder of Power Sheds, told The Express that one of the best ways of dealing with slugs is to create a "beer trap" with a small amount of beer, which will lure the slugs into a jar which they then drown in.

He said: "A beer trap is a simple and inexpensive approach to get rid of slugs. Ward off pesky slugs by pouring an inch of beer into an empty jar and then burying the jar in the ground up to its neck, leaving about an inch above the ground.

"Slugs are attracted to the odours and fermentation gases found in the beer, where they will crawl into the jar and drown."

Since you only need a small amount of beer, the trick is relatively cheap to do - and you get to drink the rest of your pint once you've sacrificed a little to the slugs.

But prevention is always better than cure, so Jack also shared his tips on how to stop slugs from coming into your garden and feasting on your plants in the first place.

The natural prevention methods don't harm the slugs in any way, but make it harder for them to damage plants by doing simple things like planting flowers they don't like the taste of, and clearing away any weeds that they might take shelter in.

Jack explained: "Remove any debris or weeds from your garden that could provide shelter for slugs.

"Plant slug-resistant plants such as lavender, rosemary, and marigolds.

"Avoid watering the garden late in the day as they thrive in these conditions and most slugs feed at night."

Alongside the plants Jack mentioned, you can also try planting garlic, chives, and chamomile to create a garden full of plants that slugs just aren't that keen on eating.

In fact, many people swear by garlic as a natural deterrent for slugs and snails, and you can even make a garlic spray that you can use in your garden to keep the slithery bugs at bay.

To make the spray, simply put two bulbs of garlic in a saucepan with around two litres of water, and allow the garlic to boil until it's soft.

Then, squash the bulbs with a fork or spoon to help release the garlic juices into the water. Once that's done, all you need to do is strain the water into a spray bottle and you're good to go.

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