No Scraps Or Chemicals: Use A Plastic Bottle To Easily Keep Slugs Off Your Plants

If you're looking for tips to keep snails and slugs out of your garden,  there are a number of easy and effective ways to do it. For example, you can harvest those scrap coffee grounds and use them to create a barrier around your plants. This has the added benefit of improving soil structure and drainage. However, it's a lot of work. And, depending on the size of your garden, you may well need to drink an awful lot of coffee in order to safeguard all of your plants. Of course, the other alternative is to reach for more chemical-based solutions. There are different types of slug repellents — often sold as pellets — and while they differ in composition, they typically work to stop the slugs feeding. However, they come at a cost, and they're typically effective for around two weeks (depending on the weather), meaning re-application will be required.

Instead, for something that's unlikely to break down in just a few weeks, is free, and doesn't require several gallons of coffee, simply reach to your recycling bin. There, if you happen to have a plastic bottle, then all you'll need is a pair of scissors and a few minutes of your time. In fact, there are lots of ways you can reuse plastic water bottles in your garden. But in this case, what you're going to do is cut a collar-shaped section out of the bottle, carve out some spikes in the top rim, and then carefully place it over your most precious plant babies. 

The main thing to note is that if you're hoping to say goodbye to slugs in your garden for good, then this may not be the method for you. While it will protect your plants from marauding molluscs, it won't actually stop them from entering your garden. What that means is that you'll need to create a plant collar for each plant that you wish to keep slugs away from. If you'd prefer to avoid doing that, then you could reserve this handy DIY for your most precious plants or delicate seedlings.

For example, slugs love damp soil. If you're transplanting a new batch of seedlings to your garden and you're worried about slugs, then in combination with your bottle collars, ensuring that your soil drains well can help to make it all less attractive. Keeping mature plants pruned at lower levels to allow sunlight to hit the soil is also a good idea, as is avoiding too much leaf mulch. Even if your landscape is shady, you can still discourage molluscs by planting slug-deterrent plants, like creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) and ferns. And, if that fails, a few strategically placed beer traps could help to keep slugs out of your garden. If you pair this with a good, long-term approach to pest control (one that doesn't rely on chemicals or kitchen scraps), you should only need to use one or two bottles to protect your most delicate plants and seedlings.