Mary Berry’s new gardening book is an absolute treasure trove of green-fingered anecdotes and wisdom, and among the pages, I found a few invaluable tips for keeping slugs at bay.
As it turns out, Mary has a secret recipe: a garlic spray that repels slugs and snails. I found it in My Gardening Life, which you can buy from Amazon. It’s a joy to read, featuring beautiful imagery of Mary’s own garden and insights into her gardening learnings, mistakes, and favourite plants over the years. After spotting slug trails on my patio over the last week, I’m finding Mary’s slug and snail deterrent tips especially useful at the moment.
The garlic spray is a fantastic way to get rid of slugs naturally, no chemicals needed – and in Mary’s words, it’s dead easy.
A beautiful look at Mary Berry's gardening years and wisdom.
If you’re into companion planting, you’ll know that garden plant pests tend to dislike the smell of garlic. It’s often planted next to vulnerable crops to protect them from slugs, snails and the like.
It makes sense, then, that a garlic spray is an effective weapon against the critters – and that’s exactly what Mary Berry recommends.
‘I like to use this homemade garlic spray to deter snails and slugs from eating my hostas,’ Mary says in My Gardening Life.
‘Place two whole bulbs of garlic in a saucepan containing two litres of water, heat, and simmer them until the garlic bulbs are soft and squidgy. Remove the bulbs, mash them with a fork, then sieve into a bottle with a lid. It’s dead easy.’
The resulting bottle of garlic solution is a bit like a concentrated plant feed that needs to be diluted before use.
‘When you want to use it, dilute two tablespoons of the solution in five litres of water and spray or water it over your hostas once a week,’ Mary advises.
It's as simple as that! And it isn’t just slugs and snails who will avoid the garlic spray – it’s a brilliant way to get rid of aphids and other common garden pests, too.
Mary also mentioned the merits of grit and gravel for tackling slugs and snails – particularly around her delphiniums. Conveniently, horticultural grit is readily available at Amazon.
‘The biggest problem we have with them is slugs and snails, which will strip plants to almost nothing overnight,’ Mary says in her book. ‘We put a deep ring of gravel around the base of plants (we have plenty spare as we use it on the drive).’
As a last resort, Mary says she uses slug pellets. Eco-friendly slug pellets exist, like these Vitax Slug Gone Wool Pellets from Amazon, which are safe for pets and wildlife.
Slug defence kit
There are also lots of bedding plants that slugs hate, if you're in for some strategic planting.
