Top tips for getting rid of slugs in the garden?

[emkana]

Yesterday dh was so impressed at the speed and the helpfulness of Mumsnet when we needed a recipe for fairy cakes that he told his parents about it at dinner today. FIL immediately said that maybe you wise Mumsnetters could help him with a problem - does anybody have a good tip how to get rid of slugs in the garden? FIL is distraught at having his plants destroyed!
THank you very much in advance!

I had one squirming all over the lid of the milk bottle today - puke. Have since washed it and dipped it in a cup full of boiling water. Umm have I got the stomach to drink it still? Would you?

furball - I wouldn't but I'm squeamish like that. There shouldn't be anything wrong with it though - depends how much you want the milk!!

by the way - I had to read your message 3 times before it really sunk in that you dipped the lid in hot water - not the slug!!!

Too right! The lid and the neck of the bottle.

Can you really imagine me thinking poor slug and actually giving it a wash before plunging it into hot water

I did imagine it actually - you holding the slug and giving it a good scrub with a brillo pad, then holding it by its tail (does it have a tail or just a back-end?) and dipping it into a cup!!! It even crossed my mind to ask whether you were talking about drinking the milk or the cup of hot water!!! Sorry, my mind works in strange ways at this time of the morning!!!

Crushed egg shell is another way of keeping them off your plants. Anything that is rough that will irritate their soft underparts (!) should stand a chance of working. Have to say that we don't have many in our garden though as we get the odd frog from time to time and quite a lot of birds which seem to do the trick.

If you find a winning formula though do let us know!!

Am going to try the nemotoid things. I am so squeamish of slugs. DS keeps bringing them to me and I have to have gardening gloves ready so that I can take them from him without having to touch them. Cannot do the picking off plants thing as it makes me feel physically sick.

Emmatmg I think if i'd trodden on a slug I would actually have been sick.

As a student I lived in a rented house so awful we had giant slugs INSIDE. And a downstairs bathroom. Got up one morning all bleary eyed and barefoot and - yes - stood on a giant green slug. I nearly fainted with horror, and after a wash (while screaming a bit) I had to go back to bed to recover.

i was happily eating a bag of popcorn, left over from the previous nights film and safely(well i thought) stored in the cupboard. i ripped the packet open and started to munch on the toffee popcorn, i then found to my horror that tucked under the lip of the popcorn was a big fat juicy slug. i freaked! and felt very ill!! the slug then tried the salt popcorn and never the less, it didnt really agree with it!

HOW DO I GET RID OF THEM FROM MY KITCHEN!!!