The short answer
Go out with a torch after dark and pick them off, which sounds primitive and is by far the most effective thing available. Then remove the damp hiding places.
- Torch patrol after dark, especially after rain. Twenty minutes twice a week in spring makes more difference than anything else.
- Remove daytime shelter: upturned pots, long grass at the bed edges, piles of damp debris against a wall.
- Water in the morning, not the evening, so the soil surface is drier at night.
- Copper tape works on pots. Wool pellets and grit help on beds.
- Encourage the things that eat them: birds, frogs, hedgehogs, ground beetles.
What will ruin it
Metaldehyde slug pellets have been banned for outdoor use in the UK since 2022 because of the harm to wildlife and pets. If you have an old box in the shed, take it to your council's hazardous waste disposal rather than using it up.
Why it works
Slugs feed at night and in the wet and shelter in the day. Almost every effective control is about intercepting them at one of those two points rather than poisoning them.
Household chemicals can be dangerous in combination. Never mix them, keep the room ventilated, and test anything on a hidden patch first. Full disclaimer.
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