Yeah Ive used them before & they do work,you can buy beer traps at garden centers(minus the beer) use a strong real ale, bury it at ground level.

Hmmm I tried this once when i planted all my hostas .I'm not sure though that it worked as it certainly attracted slugs .....too many ! Since I stopped using it my hostas havent been touched lol

Yes it works well...but make sure you empty them regularly as the smell of drowned, drunk slugs is probably the worst thing in the world !!!!

Thanks for your comments ... I acted in the spur of the moment and ordered the slug traps ... I don't think they can possibly attract any more slugs than I already have in the garden Susie! The garden is overrun by slugs and woodlice!!! I can't do much about the woodlice and I don't think they eat the plants but the slugs ..... I'm constantly putting pellets out and they look horrible being a bright blue! So about time we tried something new!

I hate slimey things :(

Slug Nematodes do the job for me.

Unfortunately, there are still loads of snails though.

Yes beer in a plastic/tin dish works if sunk in the ground, it does not need to be that deep, but you need quite a few of them by the sounds of it. If you save your egg shells and put in a circle around individual plants - they hate crossing anything sharp.

Hi All

I carried out a experiment last year one slug house filled with larger the other lemonade, both very busy with slugs and snails.

Result no one came back out of the Ale house but the lemonade Parlour every one went back for 2nds and 3rds

So its the alcohol that does them in . just note if not using a slug house dont put the container level with the soil as ground beetles will drop in and drown and these help us big time in the garden.

Gg

GG nice experiment. Thanks for the tip re the ground beetles ....

Yeah mine caught more ground beetles than slugs. IMO you are wasting your time and beer on these traps, egg shells, ash, grist or the like, best to use slug pellets or go out at dusk and pick them off with tweezers into salty water.

KM, how do I get any of the things you suggest on the wall though?

Also you mention ash ... we have a logburner ... will spreading the ash keep slugs and snails away?

Still not sure how to make the ash work on the wall though!

km

All the things you mention only work when its dry

And the size of my slugs and snails you would need pliers not tweezers lol

Gg

Ash is ok - Lilies and Delphiniums for example. Layer the ash around the emerging plant and keep moulding the ash up till the plant is getting large enough. That does stop the slugs, even if it gets wet. I only used going out and picking out slugs last year and this spring I was over run and it was ruining my plants. I bought slug killer (eraza or something like it), little blue pellets. They worked immediately and I have very few large slugs left...went out last night. Also avoid watering plants in the evening - morning is best.

I find that the tiny beige slugs are the big problem in my garden, and snails of course. With young or emerging plants I place copper rings around them and they seem to work, until the plants spread out and the little creatures can then cross from other plants. Pots get the copper tape treatment and that works too.
Last year, after hearing much about the downturned grapefruit skin method i put out some orange skins and they were little slug communities in there next day.

My experience echoes what Kildermorie said - eggshells, coffee, oats, grit and the like haven't deterred them. Going out with a torch is a bit of a pain but you will discover so many that it's worth it.

Slug pellets work but I would never use them because of the risk to wildlife (and my dog) and the organic ones I've tried need topping up after getting wet.

I don't know whether I should do this but I put slugs in my compost bin (lots of food in there). Not snails though.

Good luck whatever you do.

Merlin, where do you get the copper rings and tape from? Any garden centre?

Hi Garden Fairy (love the name)
I ordered them online - ebay probably - but I'm sure they will have them in a garden centre. The rings were more expensive but you get small and large ones and apparently they don't wear out. As I found though, once the plants are bigger, they will bush out over the protection of the copper. By then though the plant can hopefully cope with a bit of nibbling.

Thanks .. will look out for those ... maybe the tape will sort out my wisteria problem ... slugs seem to be coming out of the wall and its getting no change to grow and bush out ...