Weekly Tip #11: Nematodes

Slugs will soon be decimating your garden if you don't act to stop'em. Don't use the horrible toxic blue pellets, use nematodes instead - we use Nemaslug and it works great.

Slugs and Snails...

OK, I'm a bit of a lazy gardener, but I have spent a disproportionate amount of timefighting my pseudo-footed nemeses, the gastropods that munch through my herbaceous perennials every year. Obviously the pernicious little blue pellets are out. We've tried all the barrier methods - egg shells, vaseline and WD40 (the last two on pots), which seem to deter the beggars until they find some inventive (and surprisingly acrobatic) way through.

So for many years we've relied on the beer trap - including these rather nifty snail shaped traps from the National Trust (except they seem to have stopped making them and most of ours got smashed during the installation of our solar panel). However they do need topping up quite frequently so going on holiday becomes a real problem.

However this year we've had more joy using nematodes from Just Green. Nematodes are microscopic worms that use slugs as nurseries/food for their offspring. And they have worked really well, and one dose lasts for 6 weeks. They only do in slugs, but snails are easier to find and get chucked in the river.