As the warmer months creep closer, pests will be sneaking their way into your garden and damaging your much-loved plants and seedlings. Luckily, you don’t have to just grin and bear it – Morris Hankinson, director of Hopes Groves Nurseries, has shared his top tips to eradicate slugs, snails, and aphids from the garden.When it comes to slugs and snails, Hankinson’s top tip is super simple.
He said: “Prevention rather than eradication is key. My favourite way to repel slugs and snails is a garlic water mix sprayed around the plants.” To utilise this cheap and easy trick first boil two full bulbs of garlic in water in a large saucepan.
Make sure the bulbs are soft enough to squish out as much juice as you can, then sieve the mixture so you have just the cloud water and store it in a cool, dry place.
When you want to use it, dilute two tablespoons in five litres of water and spray over your plants weekly.
If you notice a plague of aphids on your plants don’t panic. They don’t do huge amounts of damage, and they are also fairly simple to remove.
If you keep a check on your plants as often as you can, you will spot infestations early on and can simply hose them off.
A strong blast of water (not enough to take out your plants as well) will do the trick. Adding in some washing up liquid is often used to control aphids and introduce beneficial insects as well.
GardeningExpress’s Chris Bonnett also agrees that washing up liquid is one of the best ways to battle aphids.
He said: “You want to just get a spray bottle, like an old kitchen cleaner spray bottle, rinse it all out.
“Then, put some washing up liquid in there with water and spray that over the plant.
“That will basically suffocate the aphids. Avoid doing it when it’s bright and sunny.”