Now at the very real risk of telling people how to suck eggs, I thought I would share this. Since I came here to look for advice, there is a good chance at least one other person is in the same boat as me.

I have a lot of problems with slugs in the garden and as I always put food out for the birds I didn’t fancy using slug pellets incase the birds eat the slugs.

I have tried going out early with salt but I hate this method as it just makes a mess. As far as being inhuman goes I lost that feeling after all my seedlings were eaten over night.

I tried egg shells no luck, coffee no luck, and keeping the area clean just makes it easier for them to get to my plants.

I gave up and had to use slug pellets and it was only then I noticed they were being killed but also that I had double the amount of slugs in the garden? I then did a little experiment. I put a small scattering of pellets into a section of the garden and none into the rest and kept a close study of both.

I then noticed the pellets actually attracted them, so now i just set traps with a small amount of pellets hidden behind pots so the birds don’t get near them. Maybe a bit of netting to keep the birds away would be better. But what I am thinking of trying this year is stripping the plastic off a lot of old electric cable I have and place this around my small garden as I know they hate copper I will let you know how I get on.

Does anyone else have any tips?