Put it to the pest

What lovely weather for slugs. This winter they've munched my hostas and my perennial lobelia, they've nibbled the new shoots on my roses and I even found one risking its sticky black life by slimily sliding up the bird feeder. So as the sogginess continues, what can we do?

Slug pellets are the traditional remedy and while there have been problems with pets and wildlife being poisoned, the makers of modern mini-pellets have addressed this problem. The pellets are now coloured blue, the most off-putting colour for animals, and include a slug and snail attractant as well as an additive to deter all creatures except the pests.

The biggest problem, however, is not the pellets themselves but the way gardeners use them. Piling pellets up in mounds, in the hope that the more pellets you put down the more slugs they'll kill, only increases the chances of the family dog taking a mouthful. Individual pellets need to be spaced no closer than 10-12.5cm (4-6in) apart.

A method that does not involve poisons is a slug trap, using either beer or a special attractant as bait. You'll find that a jam jar half filled with beer and sunk to its rim will work well until the dog finds it. Garden centres stock plastic traps for beer and these have a lid to keep out both pets and rain.

A more sophisticated approach is to use a trap that is simply laid on the soil and a special attractant added (from Agralan, 01285 860015); you can even empty out the slugs and the attractant remains in place.

Even easier is to pop out after breakfast with the remains of your grapefruit half and lay it upside down in the border: slugs will hide inside.

Physical barriers have long been used: lime, crushed eggshells, fire ash, dry sand and grit are favourites but have the disad-vantage of being washed away or losing their effectiveness in the rain - the very time slugs are likely to be out and about.

In the same vein, Slug Stoppa is a granular mineral whose physical properties discourage slugs from passing over it. It's also super absorbent so if the lure of the hosta becomes too much, they become dehydrated.

The most modern approach, but also the most expensive, is to use slug parasites such as Nemaslug, which are parasitic eelworms (nematodes). Mix them with water and simply apply to the soil with a watering can. They destroy the slugs underground, where much of the damage takes place, and attack no other creatures. This certainly works, especially in summer but it's less effective on clay soils and is expensive. (Slug Stoppa and Nemaslug are available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue, 01932 248541).

You can also help reduce slug damage by growing hostas, their favourite plants, in terracotta pots, by clearing away weeds and other debris where slugs might hide at night and on hot days, by encouraging hedgehogs and ground-feeding birds such as thrushes and by checking under pots and tubs, another place where they tend to lurk during the day. The best deterrent of all is a long, hot, dry spell: we can but hope.