Make your garden less attractive to slugs and snails
Whether your vegetable garden is a little attractive to slugs and snails or extremely attractive is partly up to you. It depends on what you put in and around your garden. Tips and tricks!
A Makkelijke Moestuin is already less attractive to slugs and snails than a regular vegetable garden. I should say right away: that does not help much if you live in a true slug paradise.
But if you only see the occasional slug, it will bother you less in a Makkelijke Moestuin than in a regular vegetable garden.
But if you only see the occasional slug, it will bother you less in a Makkelijke Moestuin than in a regular vegetable garden.
Because of these things:
Everything mixed together
In a Makkelijke Moestuin, your raised bed is full of different vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
There are plants slugs and snails love, but also plants they do not like.
The smell of those last ones makes the whole raised bed less attractive to them.
Slugs and snails have an excellent sense of smell
You can make good use of that.
So also put some plants in your raised bed that they dislike: mint, fennel, geraniums, garlic, thyme, marigolds, and foxglove.
But if there's a huge slug infestation, that won't be enough.
So, spray their favorite plants with something that they think stinks:
So, spray their favorite plants with something that they think stinks:
Homemade garlic spray, for example. You'll find the recipe here.
Dry surfaces
The surface of the MM-mix usually stays fairly dry. That's helpful, because slugs and snails do not like that. Slugs in particular don't like it.
Though that advantage disappears as soon as it keeps pouring with rain for weeks.
Though that advantage disappears as soon as it keeps pouring with rain for weeks.
You can also make the paths around your raised beds less attractive.
Wood chips are already better than grass or bare soil. Although in wet periods, slugs and snails still crawl over them easily:
Wood chips are already better than grass or bare soil. Although in wet periods, slugs and snails still crawl over them easily:
Paths of gravel or shells are much better. Because if they do not have to, slugs and snails will not crawl over them.
Keep an eye on your plants
In a Makkelijke Moestuin, you preferably water at the base of your plants with a small cup. Because you go past each plant one by one, you quickly notice when slugs and snails are attacking your plants.
Again: this advantage disappears if it rains for weeks, because then you hardly need to water. Meanwhile, slugs and snails love all that wet weather.
Luckily, the app reminds you to go slug hunting. A warned MM gardener is worth two 🙂
Find the slug or snail
As soon as you see even a little feeding damage, look for the culprit right away. The sooner you step in, the less damage there will be.
During the day, slugs and snails hide in dark, preferably damp places.
Dense clumps of winter purslane, like in the photo, are an ideal hiding place for slugs and snails. They also like dark red lettuce, even though they rarely, if ever, eat the lettuce itself.
Keep it clean
Slugs and snails prefer young plants, cabbage leaves, your best heads of lettuce, and old or half-decayed leaves.
So remove yellow and shriveled leaves right away.
On to the next tip:
Baiting and catching slugs and snails
So remove yellow and shriveled leaves right away.
On to the next tip:
Baiting and catching slugs and snails
Need more help? Also see the overview Help! Slugs and snails in your Makkelijke Moestuin. There you'll see what you can do for a few slugs, and for a real infestation.