Another thing to remember is that most species of slugs species do not eat living plant material.
Rather, they can be regarded as the gardener's friend, eating decaying vegetable and animal matter only and turning this into nutrients that feed your plants.
Then there are another large group of species that much prefer decaying vegetable matter but will attack living plants if they have no alternative.
These are the ones that too tidy gardeners suffer, having removed all dead material. They would do better chucking it to the back of the border, maybe together with vegetable waste from the kitchen and banana skins etc.,
Rather than eat your plants, they will help you by turning such waste into nutritious feed for your plants.
Then, sadly their are the relatively few species that will go straight for certain plants (but not all).
Just a few species, but many in number.
The worst thing to do is to turn to poisons, which quickly wipe out the slow to recover snail predator populations, leading to an explosion of plant eating slugs.
There is no way of eliminating slugs, but much can be done to minimise the damage they do by encouraging slugs predators and giving slugs better choices than eating your plants, as Stuart has recommended (but given no mention of toads which sit at the top of the slug predator table).
Other things you can do is avoid plants that are slug magnets and never plant out plants when they are still young and tender.
Then accept that some slugs will still levy a tax, usually of weaker, perhaps unhealthy plants that would struggle anyway.
(It always surprised me that a row of vegetables would mostly grow fine, but the odd plant in the row would be nibbled nightly by slugs. I'd always end up with too many vegetables anyway!)
Because often the soil shifts and the band can get covered, creating a gap for slugs to get through. Also leaves and other debris can fall onto it, creating bridges for them to use to cross as well
Another thing to remember is that most species of slugs species do not eat living plant material.
Rather, they can be regarded as the gardener's friend, eating decaying vegetable and animal matter only and turning this into nutrients that feed your plants.
Then there are another large group of species that much prefer decaying vegetable matter but will attack living plants if they have no alternative.
These are the ones that too tidy gardeners suffer, having removed all dead material. They would do better chucking it to the back of the border, maybe together with vegetable waste from the kitchen and banana skins etc.,
Rather than eat your plants, they will help you by turning such waste into nutritious feed for your plants.
Then, sadly their are the relatively few species that will go straight for certain plants (but not all).
Just a few species, but many in number.
The worst thing to do is to turn to poisons, which quickly wipe out the slow to recover snail predator populations, leading to an explosion of plant eating slugs.
There is no way of eliminating slugs, but much can be done to minimise the damage they do by encouraging slugs predators and giving slugs better choices than eating your plants, as Stuart has recommended (but given no mention of toads which sit at the top of the slug predator table).
Other things you can do is avoid plants that are slug magnets and never plant out plants when they are still young and tender.
Then accept that some slugs will still levy a tax, usually of weaker, perhaps unhealthy plants that would struggle anyway.
(It always surprised me that a row of vegetables would mostly grow fine, but the odd plant in the row would be nibbled nightly by slugs. I'd always end up with too many vegetables anyway!)
Why will a copper band deter slugs if placed around a pot but not around a plant in the flower bed?
Because often the soil shifts and the band can get covered, creating a gap for slugs to get through. Also leaves and other debris can fall onto it, creating bridges for them to use to cross as well
Makes perfect sense. Thanks.