Tried & Tested: Slug and Snail Control Products

Slugs and snails are serious pests in most gardens at certain times of year. A square metre may contain 60 slugs and, under ideal conditions, as many as 200. These are mostly the secretive kind that lives underground, rather than the big ones that blunder about above ground. So, even if you go out every night to collect and dispose of all you can see, you'll only scratch the surface. And, because nature abhors a vacuum, even if you do manage to kill every slug in your garden, more will move in from next door. If you garden on alkaline soil, snails can be numerous, too. They are nocturnal surface dwellers but tend to commute each evening from dark, damp hiding places under paving, in crevices or under hedges. It isn't feasible to eliminate slugs and snails altogether, but you can protect valuable plants, deter them from some areas and minimise their impact. Gardening Which? carried out extensive tests on a range of control methods. Here are their findings...