Slugs are an insect that I’d rather not see in the garden. I think they are destructive, slimy and disgusting. As a matter of fact, I can’t even look at my wife’s escargot in a restaurant, because it reminds me of garden slugs.

So, this is the time of year, I try to protect my susceptible plants from slugs. I would rather not deal with toxic chemicals and baits in my garden. And I have tried the beer-in-a-dish tactic. I found more slugs on the underside of the dish than were actually in the beer. So, I only caught a handful compared to the thousands that I know are out there in my clay soil. 

One control method that I see recommended a lot is hand picking slugs off of plants at night. I wonder if the people that write this actually go out at night and do this. 

The Ohio Extension Service has a nice fact sheet on slugs. But an easy control method not mentioned is sand. You can buy products like diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it around your hostas. But sand is cheaper and lasts longer. It has the same effect of creating a course or gritty surface that the slugs won’t crawl over to get to the plant. If I start to see slug damage on plants, I pull out the sand and sprinkle it around the base. If I do this early in the season, the plants then fill out and hide the sand from view.  It works for me.

Posted by Bob Rensel