You can also buy garlic spray ready made from the shops, but seems an expensive waste of money.Some believe we should live in harmony with the greedy gastropods – as ultimately, they’re an important part of our ecosystem – feeding birds, hedgehogs, frogs, toads and beetles.

Slugs are most active at night – so go out in the dark with a torch – and pick off all the unsuspecting critters one by one. FOLLOW ME @biros_and_bloomThen boil until soft. Mash the bulbs and chilli then sieve to remove the lumps.

BEER TRAPS

Wool pellets which absorb liquid to form a felt-like mat that irritates the slugs foot and more environmentally friendly products are out there.

TORCHLIGHT HUNTING

Amazing slug facts from the RHSThis MUST be done regularly and after rain.

SALT

Slimy, tenacious and all consuming, they can cause absolute havoc in an outside space.

COPPER TAPE

Some swear by ground up eggshells around the plant – to create a sharp surface the slugs can’t slither over. Or coffee grounds.

COPPER RINGS/MESH

COPPER RINGS from Copper & Green. Handmade and last for years – from £6.So create feeding stations, bird baths and boxes.  Invite hedgehogs with under fence highways and leave piles of leaves for them to shelter under.

SLUG PELLETS

SLUG MESH Green Gardeners have flexible slug and snail mesh for £14.99Put a ring of salt around your favourite plants – it kills the slugs so technically they should avoid – although don’t put too much salt in as it will damage your soil.But on the flip side – there’s around 50 -100 slugs per square metre in our outside space – and walking up to a decimated garden is really soul destroying  – so what can we do to stop them?

NEMATODES

Worth remembering that slugs come up through the soil, they won’t necessarily slide along the top.

ENCOURAGE NATURAL PREDATORS

WIN! Win a surprisingly quiet Segway i Series Robotic Mower worth £949. Perfect for smaller to medium sized gardens, there’s AI-assisted mapping and a wire free set up. To enter, visit www.thesun.co.uk/SEGWAYMOWER or write to Sun Segway Mower competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Ends 23.59GMT 26.4.25 T&Cs apply.TOP TIP – Use your tumble dryer water on your plants – it’s distilled, which means it’s free of minerals and chemicals that might be harmful to plants From Matt Dartnell, via email.

RHS SLUG FACTS

It’s now a crime to use old Metadehyde pellets which might be lying around – as they were banned in March 2022.

• Slug blood is blue.
• They have 2000-8000 teeth
• They can mate with themselves
• The fastest travels at 17.6 metres an hour.
• They poop from their heads
• The biggest UK slug can grow to a foot long.

NATURAL DEFENCES

NEMATODES – I’ve used Nemaslug from Nematodes Direct, which works to reduce slug populations from garden beds, planters, and pots. £15.99To make it: take six garlic cloves,  and add them to one litre of water.

HOMEMADE GARLIC AND CHILLI SPRAY

SLUG PELLETS Green fingers 2-in-1 barrier from Robert Dyas promises to keep slug and snails away – but crucially – has no harmful chemicals and doesn’t hurt nature. £5.79SLUGS – five letters to spread a chill down any gardener’s spine.You can also use copper rings which are nicer looking but more expensive – either put them in the ground round your plants, or round pots.Win a Segway robot mower, plus a reader top tip and job of the weekAlso try to avoid any with iron phosphate – they can be toxic to other animales, including the birds that eat the slugs, earthworms – and dogs.Bury a glass jar in the ground with just the rim showing – and fill with beer. Slugs are drawn to it – particularly the yeast smell, so will fall in and drown.Thrushes, blackbirds, starlings, robins and owls love eating slugs. Add in a few sliced fresh chillis and a tablespoon of biodegradable washing dishwasher liquid – one like Ecover is best.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS

JOB OF THE WEEK Create an all day buffet for the bees by planting swathes of wildflowers wherever you have space. Spring feed your lawn and repair bare patches.COPPER TAPE – ASelected Copper Tape Slug Repellent has the best reviews on Amazon – £6.99Whether you drop them in water, take them away for slice them in half – it’s up to you.

Beneficial nematode products contain millions of microscopic worms that naturally occur in the soil and will seek out and kill specific target pests. All you do is water them in.Here’s TEN easy ways of dealing with the critters.

Also In Veronica’s Column this week

I find success with this varies – but worth a shot. Just wrap it round your pots. The idea is that the slug gets a mild shock – so will turn round and head off instead of eating your plants for dinner.

Asda is currently selling four bulbs for 93p and a packet of four fresh chillies for 56p. If you separate six bulbs and one chilli – that comes to around 12p per bottle of spray. Fill a spray bottle with the solution and spray in early evening when the slugs are most active. New on the market is also copper mesh to put around your plants.A lot of my fellow maintenance gardeners swear by this ‘garlic squash’ – just remember that it stinks for a day or so.