Mulch?

[MadameGalen]

Could you please talk to me about mulch? I have been gardening for a few years now mainly vegetables in raised beds and I know I need to start giving my soil a boost, but... mulch gives me the fear.

I have a massive problem with slugs and snails, and I just can't understand why mulch wouldn't make it even worse. My compost bin is full of them, so surely if I mulch the veg bed with that compost, I'm essentially mulching with slugs! I could buy bags of mulch, but that's pretty pricey, and although it wouldn't have actual slugs in it, wouldn't it provide a great habitat for them to hide under and breed.

Can anyone help?!

Charles Dowding the 'No-dig guru' mulches a lot and says that he doesn't get too many slugs if the area around is kept clear of hiding places. If you look up Charles Dowding no dig you will find his website.
The slugs in your compost might be ones that eat dead and decaying plant matter rather than live plants.
Strulch is brilliant against slugs but expensive. Once it's broken down it improves soil structure but I don't know what if any nutrients it adds to the soil.

Not all slugs are bad....I tend to go out and pick them off plants at night with a torch and a glass of wine.

I mulch with woodchip, I have a free source via my allotment, but one year I got a tree surgeon to dump a load on the drive - it wasn't very expensive.

I don't find it increases the amount of slugs and significantly reduces the amount of time weeding.

We swear by beer-traps for slugs.

Started using them last year as our garden was infested but after a couple of months there was a very noticeable reduction in them (disposing of the beery slug-juice was something else though!🤮).
Haven't had to put them out yet this year but have some ready and waiting.🤞

They only appear on the lawn, use chippings (from a tree surgeon) for around the shrubs and they don't venture there.

Leopard slugs in compost heaps won't eat your fresh produce. It's the greyish beige ones that do.

I'd bet getting that compost out from the enclosed/warm pile (or bin) spread out onto soil where it'll dry out a bit and there are fewer corners to hide in, would send those slugs/snails packing - or at least expose them to the birds for snacking

Mulching doesn't increase slugs/snails in your borders. As a PP said, they'll be loving it in the compost bin as it's warm, tucked away and they can eat the decaying material.

When you spread mulch on the border it dries out more and there are fewer hiding places for the slugs. Birds can spot them more easily to eat.

I mulch with bark chippings and haven't noticed any increase in slugs or snails in my borders.

I use pea straw on the veggie beds - the proper stuff in a bale, not the bagged kind which is too finely chopped. I dig it in for the autumn planting and reapply in spring. Mind you, finding somewhere that sells bales is quite a task. The permanent flower beds have pine bark mulch.

Not many slugs where I am in Melbourne but tons of snails that are lying low as we've had little rain for weeks now.

My tip would be to install a small wildlife pond to attract a frog or two, they will eat the slugs for you. It doesn't need to be big. Even if it's just a small sunken bowl with a plant and a rock in it.

Thank you so much everyone - some really helpful comments. Looks like I'm about to lose my mulch virginity...

I do that too... but never thought about taking wine with me. Great idea! I'm out there for ages because there are thousands of the blighters.

Wine really helps matters....

At our peak we had 169 frogs. They had no noticeable effect on the slugs

Blimey that's a lot of frogs! Shame they didn't bring the slug population down.

You'll also notice how mulch really perks the plants up!