Slugs can be kept away from your garden if you plant one flower that experts say is “easy to grow”. Slugs can cause significant damage in your garden by attacking a variety of plants.
For many people, the go-to solution is to use chemical pesticides to get rid of slugs, but there are natural ways to get rid of them and prevent them from arriving in the first place. One of those solutions is to introduce plants to your garden that slugs hate. One of those plants is foxgloves. This colourful flower is common in British gardens and it is an excellent natural pest deterrent. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, foxgloves are a relatively easy to grow flower, so it is accessible for even more inexperienced gardeners who wish to keep slugs away through natural means.
You will know if you have slugs in your garden because leaves and flowers will appear to have holes in them. Here is why foxgloves are a great deterrent for slugs and how you can grow them.
Slugs are extrememly unlikely to feed on foxgloves because this flower contains toxic compounds such as digitalis glycosides, which can be very harmful for slugs.
For this reason, it might be a good idea to plant foxgloves close to plants that tend to be attractive for slugs, such as leafy greens and flowers with soft and fleshy leaves.
Foxgloves can be planted in spring or autumn when the soil is warm and moist, the RHS advises. These flowers prefer to grow in areas where there is light shade, as they normally grow in woodland in the UK. They are easy to plant in borders or large containers.
When they are first growing, foxgloves need to be watered regularly but once they are a mature plant, they only need to be watered during long and dry periods, normally over the summer months.
When flower heads begin to wilt and die, it is important to deadhead them to ensure the rest of the plant grows as well as it can.
Foxgloves are a popular plant for their pest-repellent properties as well as the colour they add to gardens. Foxgloves can grow in a variety of colours such as purple, pink, yellow, orange and white.
Other plants that slugs will stay well clear of include lavender, roses, California poppies, thyme, rosemary and sage. For the best results, you can plant a variety of these plants around your garden.