Ideas for controlling slugs in a big garden - please?

[iknowimcoming]

Hi, I know they are a problem for all gardens but does anyone have any practical solutions for controlling them over a large area? My garden is just over an acre with beds spread all around, beer traps do a good job but I'm going to have to buy dozens to have an effect. Last summer I resorted to going outside for an hour or so every night and collecting the buggers up! I noticed the other evening they are out already eating every daffodil, crocus and primrose we have lovingly planted and it's genuinely soul destroying! One daffodil had literally 5 slugs on it all eating the flower bud

Nematodes.

Alternatively, contact your local hedgehog rescue and ask whether they might like to rehome some of them in your garden.

I was going to say hedgehogs too.

Hens

Lol - I'm already a release site for hogs (slugs are a last resort food for most hogs sadly). Will try nematodes - thanks!

Hedgehogs only eat slugs as a very last resort and they cause lungworm. Please don't encourage hedgehogs into your garden to eat your slugs.

Sorry @iknowimcoming I hadn't seen your last post!

I feed them. I put out the remains of cabbages, etc, so that the slugs eat that and not my plants. It works pretty well.

Also, choose plants that slugs either don't like (e.g. lavender) or which grow too fast to be destroyed by slugs (e.g. acanthus).

I haven't tried it yet, but I've read that bread dough is very good in slug traps

https://www.klcc.org/good-gardening/2022-03-07/good-gardening-slug-bread

Water and flour in a thin slurry with yeast, add sugar if you're feeling a bit extra. Cheapest option for slug traps.

Sheets of wet cardboard laid out overnight near vulnerable plants, collect the fuckers hiding under them the next day.

Chickens

Nematodes definitely help, you need to start about now and re-apply every six weeks. But to be honest, I’m very selective now about planting anything I know slugs have a taste for, and even then I’ll start plants off in containers and only plant out when I think they’ve got a fighting chance of standing up to the slugs!

Oh no, I thought I had a couple more months before I had to worry about slugs! I’m not bothered about them in my garden as it’s mainly planted with hardy bushes which they don’t bother with. But I do object to them sneaking around in my bedroom at night! I live in a bungalow with a five foot deep space underneath it designed to take ant flood water from the marshy land it was built on. Judging by the size of the slugs ( pretty tiny) I think they bred in the floor space and crawled up the walls coming through the minute crack at the edge of the floor boards.

I battled with them for months last year, using various methods to deter them - filling the gap at the edge of the carpet with copper tape, egg shells and spraying every night with a natural spray of various essential oils. I even slept with the light on wearing an eye mask!

I’ve run out of ideas so can only hope that they did not return to the underfloor space to breed again this year.

As you can see, I changed my user name during my battle last year!

Create a pond and wait for the frogs to arrive.

We have a pond at the bottom of the garden, I've ordered nematodes (not delivered until mid March) and have been outwith my trusty long tweezers and bucket every night and have picked off between 50-100 per night so far (not an exaggeration btw!) except for the really cold nights when they seem to stay low

Aren't nematodes things like tape worm? Think I would prefer slugs!

I’ve got a very sluggy garden and I’ve lost so many plants over the years that most of my plants are now ones the slugs don’t eat. Nematodes don’t work on the orange Spanish slugs, which are the main culprit here.

No, tape worms are flatworms, Platyhelminthes. Nematodes are everywhere :
Nathan Cobb, a nematologist, described the ubiquity of nematodes on Earth thus:
In short, if all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognizable, and if, as disembodied spirits, we could then investigate it, we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes. The location of towns would be decipherable since, for every massing of human beings, there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes. Trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways. The location of the various plants and animals would still be decipherable, and, had we sufficient knowledge, in many cases even their species could be determined by an examination of their erstwhile nematode parasites.[27](p 472)

Implement natural solutions like introducing predators, using slug traps, or creating copper barriers.
Apply diatomaceous earth or natural repellents like coffee grounds or garlic spray.
You might find this link gardenation helpful for quick tips on controlling slugs in a big garden
Regularly handpick slugs and remove excess moisture by improving drainage.
Rotate crops and encourage diversity in plant species to disrupt slug habitats.

I feel your pain. We have them inside too and it's utterly gross.

Ohhh that's amazing. Thank you. I am now entering a bit of a scary but incredible world!