I’m King Charles’ former gardener & I swear by a 50p buy to get rid of slugs – ditch pellets for a pet-friendly solution

WITH spring just around the corner, many of us will want to turn our attention back to our gardens.

However, there can be some challenges to tackle such as dealing with pests who have made themselves at home.

Twitter/XFormer royal gardener Jack Stooks has given his top tips for banishing slugs[/caption] PAJack worked for King Charles at Highgrove House for more than two decades[/caption] GettyYou can deter unwanted slugs from your garden with three easy steps[/caption]

Slugs are one of the worst culprits, but there are luckily some simple things you can do to deter them from getting into your plants in the weeks to come.

Former senior gardener Jack Stooks, who worked in the royal gardens of the Highgrove Estate for more than 20 years, has given his top tips on how to deal with slugs on behalf of JeffBet.

Here are Jack’s three top tips for bashing pesky slugs for good…

Slug Pellets 

While slug pellets are one of the most effective methods, Jack notes that many people prefer not to use these in their gardens if they have pets, or due to the fact they can have a negative impact on other wildlife.

He shared: “Slug pellets are good but people don’t tend to like them because they aren’t generally organic, and they can affect other wildlife which could eat them and die. 

“If people have dogs, they don’t want to have that kind of thing in their garden. 

“You can get organic slug pellets but I personally don’t think they work as well as other options.”

Brassica leaf

Jack suggests using brassica leaves, which can be found on vegetables such as Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and more, and placing them down in the corners of your growing patches with something sturdy on top to keep in place.

He says to check these ‘every day’ and you are likely to find up to ‘five or six’ slugs, before either ‘hand picking off’ slugs, or ‘feeding to birds’.

Jack added: “Put the brassica leaf onto the ground and put a rock on top of it to keep it in place. 

Getty - ContributorBrassica leaves can attract slugs for you to remove them[/caption]

“In the morning, go out early, pick up the brassica leaf and you’ll find about five or six slugs on each.

“You can either hand pick them off, or people tend to go and feed them to the birds, but that isn’t such a good idea because they can scuttle off into the garden. 

“I think the best way is to put them into a beer trap, that way they can drink the beer and enjoy their last few minutes…” 

Copper collaring

SuppliedConsider adding a copper collar to your pots to deter slugs[/caption]

Finally, Jack suggests using a copper slug collar method, which is a reusable and flexible barrier for slugs and snails. 

The pests will refuse to travel over the trap as copper gives them a shock, and could kill them. 

The former senior gardener explained: “If you have pots and it’s easy enough to put a collar around, or certain plants you could do this to, I do find this is quite a monotonous way of doing things.

“The brassica leaf and beer traps are the best and easiest way of dealing with slugs in the garden, but it’s good if people can have a few different methods to try and see what works best for them.”