Gardeners often find themselves battling with slugs and snails, but Monty Don’s pest control tips to keep them at bay without harsh chemicals
Sophie Harris Senior Lifestyle Reporter and Katie Oborn Audience Writer
15:19, 18 Apr 2026
Monty Don shares top ways to deter slugs and snails without harsh chemicals this spring(Image: Getty Images )
For countless gardeners, slugs and snails are incredibly vexing. Whether they’re devouring young plants or leaving slimy traces behind, the struggle feels endless, particularly during warmer months.
Though scattering pellets might seem an easy fix to eliminate them, this approach isn’t recommended by experts like Monty Don. In a blog entry from April 2024, the famous gardening expert revealed his approach to managing them in his plot.
Monty commented: “Slugs and snails are widely regarded as the gardener’s public enemy number one, but they are superb at recycling waste vegetative matter, and do not discriminate between a fallen leaf and a delicious young seedling.
“Slugs live largely underground in the soil and like damp conditions. Snails live above ground and love dark nooks and crannies such as old brickwork or a nice dry yew hedge, as well as clustering around the base of containers.
“Although there are over 30 species of slug in the UK, there are four main garden ones, and the biggest do not necessarily do the most damage. What you see is actually a tiny percentage of the population, and slug activity and densities of over 250,000 per acre are common.”
So what options exist for gardeners wanting to manage them effectively? Monty cautioned against deploying slug pellets or chemical treatments that might endanger wildlife.
As an alternative, maintain a compact, slug-free cold frame or table where delicate seedlings can develop, while conducting daily inspections for slugs. Monty continued: “Do not feed plants more than is absolutely necessary and always feed the soil, not the plant.
“This will avoid a spurt of soft, sappy growth that slugs love. Without stressing them with sudden temperature or cultivation changes, grow your plants as ‘hard’ as possible, which means do not mollycoddle them.”
Additionally, the horticultural specialist recommends that Britons attract a diverse array of natural predators to their gardens.
Monty revealed that he relies on masses of thrushes, frogs, toads, beetles, centipedes, shrews and a few hedgehogs to assist him in managing slug populations.
He stated: “This needs plenty of cover, an avoidance of toxic chemicals, such as slug pellets, and a degree of tolerance for collateral damage.”
Five general tips to get rid of slugs in your gardenTry copper wire, it’s a method many gardeners swear by, simply place whorls of copper wire around the base of your plants.Encourage wild birds or hedgehogs into your outdoor space as these are both natural predators of slugs and snailsSprinkle rough leftovers such as egg shells around the base of plants as slugs tend to avoid these kind of surfaces.Try setting up a beer trap, by burying a container in the soil base of your plants – and fill it half way with beer. Slugs will be attracted to it, the slugs will fall in and drown.Plant fennel, anise and rosemary borders as slugs don’t like these scents and they will act as a natural deterrent.
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