Nice Weather For Slugs!

The mild, moist Spring of 2024, combined with a cool start to the Summer, has created ideal conditions for the UK's 150 species of slugs. Plant-eating varieties of these molluscs (known in Germany as 'nude snails'), are creating havoc in UK gardens (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/jul/20/theyve-been-something-else-this-year-slugs-wreak-havoc-on-uk-gardens). Using molluscicides ('slug pellets') and salt are now (for very good reasons) frowned on. Gardeners wanting to control these pests, might be better advised to build a pond in their garden. Most amphibians (frogs and toads) that set up home there will readily eat slugs. Keeping ducks or chickens can also be beneficial. Attracting hedgehogs and slow worms will also do the job, whilst increasing biodiversity.