It has come to my attention that some of you out there in Garden Land are looking for an easy way out of your slug problem---yes, I’m looking at you, Judy. Slugs are icky and sticky; who wants to touch them? I get it, believe me, but to rid your garden of slugs you are going to have to get up close and personal with them. Last time I recommended mixing up a jug of salty water and dropping the little slimy buggers in it. Do NOT pour the salty water on the slugs. While it will probably work in the short term you run the risk of contaminating your soil with salt and this is a Very Bad Thing.
Back in the day salting the fields was a way to punish your enemy. Some historians claim that the Romans plowed over the city of Carthage and sowed salt after conquering it as both punishment and warning to others. Too much salt makes the soil inhospitable to plant life, not just to slugs.
I suppose you could apply salt directly to the slugs--a sprinkle here, a sprinkle there. While that approach does have certain dark attractions—I imagine them crying out “I’m melting!” as it happens—in the long term this method will leave rotting little slug bodies all over your garden and attract flies.
Putting the slugs directly into the jug of salty water solves the problem of carnage and leaves the neighbors with less to gossip about. I’m not saying that I ever wandered around my garden early in the morning, clad in my bathrobe and carrying a salt shaker whilst muttering to myself . . ., but if I HAD---well, you can see why people might worry.
It’s best to put on your big girl gloves and go out and pick the slugs up.
Back in the day salting the fields was a way to punish your enemy. Some historians claim that the Romans plowed over the city of Carthage and sowed salt after conquering it as both punishment and warning to others. Too much salt makes the soil inhospitable to plant life, not just to slugs.
I suppose you could apply salt directly to the slugs--a sprinkle here, a sprinkle there. While that approach does have certain dark attractions—I imagine them crying out “I’m melting!” as it happens—in the long term this method will leave rotting little slug bodies all over your garden and attract flies.
Putting the slugs directly into the jug of salty water solves the problem of carnage and leaves the neighbors with less to gossip about. I’m not saying that I ever wandered around my garden early in the morning, clad in my bathrobe and carrying a salt shaker whilst muttering to myself . . ., but if I HAD---well, you can see why people might worry.
It’s best to put on your big girl gloves and go out and pick the slugs up.
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A
slimy slippery slug awaiting a saline soaking.
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