Matt James shows how to plant a slug-free border
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Slugs can be a serious problem in your home. There are many home remedies to keep them out of your house. Express.co.uk has compiled a guide about how coffee grounds are an effective way to deter slugs and how you can keep them from coming into your home.
Slugs are slimy creatures which eat plants and love damp spaces.
They can ruin your garden, especially if you are growing vegetables.
Slugs are very fond of bedding plants, which are low on soil.
There are many home remedies for dealing with slugs, as well as keeping them out of your garden and your home.
Slugs are a perennial problem for gardens.
These creatures eat holes in leaves, stems, flowers, tubers and bulbs.
In addition, slugs can cause damage throughout the year on a wide range of plants, but seedlings and new growth on herbaceous plants in spring are most at risk.
Slugs are abundant in most gardens, so some damage needs to be tolerated, but you can implement some control measures if they continue to come into your home.
Do coffee grounds deter slugs?
Coffee grounds have long been discussed as an effective measure to deter slugs and snails.
The caffeine in coffee grounds is said to be toxic to slugs and in smaller doses, it can slow them down.
Other experts claim coffee grounds stimulate their mucus production, which can deter them from crawling over.
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Six ways to stop slugs coming into your home
Block their entry point
Slugs need an avenue to get into your home.
If you can find out how exactly they are getting into your home, you can use a torch to highlight the path and track it back to its entry point into the house.
For external doors, you should block gaps with a draught excluder, or for larger gaps and cracks you should use a permanent foam filler.
Use a copper barrier
Barriers are thought to be an effective means of repelling slugs.
Copper-base barriers, such as copper tape, have been shown to repel slugs in some studies.
Use a salt barrier
Salt can be a very good barrier as it is poisonous to slugs and can cause them to die.
Coarse salt is more effective than fine grains of salt.
You should create the salt barrier in a dry area otherwise it will wash away quickly and could make the soil nearby too salty.
Make your garden friendly to predators
Slugs are natural prey to some animals including birds, ducks and hedgehogs.
If you provide food and water for birds or create a hedgehog highway hole you can encourage animals into your garden.
A pond can also attract frogs and toads which will keep the number of slugs in your garden low.
Use a slug killer
The most effective way to handle slugs is to kill them.
You can do this by poking them with a stick and dropping them into a bucket of water.
Avoid placing plants near your doors
If you keep plant pots around the doors of your house, know that slugs enjoy staying underneath them.
This really goes for anything that sits on the ground.
Slugs can remain under these and can prove harmful.
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