Slugs are a common annoyance to deal with in gardens, but a gardening expert has shared how you can keep them away from nibbling your plants by choosing what to grow. Adam Kirtland, more commonly known as View from the Potting Bench on TikTok, shared the frustrations of many gardeners, but revealed his top four plants to plant in the garden to ward off any unwanted pests.
These plants can be found in garden centres up and down the country. Each has their own features which slugs just can’t get on with. Adam said: “Love them or loathe them, slugs can be a bit of a nuisance in the garden, but there are plants that they don’t like… and here are my top four.”
Salvias
Also known by their common name, sage, salvias offer a wealth of colour late in the growing season, as well as being a good defender against slugs. Adam described salvias as being “too fabulous” for the pest.
He explained: “Their high scent is something that they just don’t like. And because of that high scent they’re also really oily, which slugs hate.”
Heuchera
One of the gardening expert’s favourite plants is also one which slugs “detest”. Adam said: “The main reason that slugs can’t get on board with my heuchera obsession is because the leaves are tough, waxy and leathery, and that is just not what slugs are after.”
If you plant the edge of your flower borders with heucharas, they will help protect all the plants behind them from the pest.
Ferns
The gardening expert said: “To me, there’s something really prehistoric about ferns. But that is not the reason that slugs don’t like them.
“Similar to heuchera, ferns have got a tough exterior, but it’s actually that sharp scratchiness that slugs don’t like sliding all over.”
Geums
Adam described geums as the “number one plant” slugs cannot stand. He said: “Up until now I’ve been talking about toughness and leatheriness, but with geums, it’s hairiness.
“A bit like a tomato, geums have got hairy stems across the whole plant.”
The hairiness of the stems is enough to repel slugs off the plant entirely.
If you want to up your defences even more, there’s also one food scrap you can scatter around your garden to ward off slugs. Instead of throwing away used coffee grounds, scatter them on the soil around your plants.
However, the grounds should be used in moderation.
Gardeners World also stood behind using coffee grounds as a fertiliser for plants. This is because the grounds contain a number of nutrients which are useful for soil health and for plants to grow.
Coffee grounds contain high levels of nitrogen, as well as potassium and phosphorus. Oxford Garden Design explained that plants which love acidity are the best ones to use coffee grounds for.
As coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, they help to promote lush leaf growth, so can be used on leafy vegetables spinach, lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard.
However it’s good to remember which plants and vegetables don’t like coffee grounds. You should avoid putting them on the likes of tomatoes, lavender, rosemary, succulents and cacti, and clovers and legumes.
