Metaldehyde Slug pellets are now officially banned in the UK!

Good News! Metaldehyde Slug pellets can no longer be sold or used in the UK, as of Friday 1st April.

This is because they mainly contain a pesticide called Metaldehyde which poses an unacceptable risk to birds, dogs, and wildlife such as hedgehogs.

We know slugs munching on your prize-winning lettuces can be irritating but slugs and snails play a hugely important role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem! In March 2022 the RHS announces that they will no longer be classing slugs and snails as pests saying “The RHS is all too aware of the role that gardens have in supporting biodiversity and as such will no longer label any garden wildlife as pests”.

So, if possible, we urge you to get rid of slugs without killing them. Some wildlife friendly alternatives to slug pellets include:

1. Hand Removal

Go out at night with a torch and collect all the snails and slugs you can find in a bucket. Then relocate them. It’s best to take them a bit further than your neighbour’s garden!

2. Damp Cardboard

Slugs and snails like to hide in dark, damp places. Put a piece of damp cardboard in the garden, held down with a rock and you can then venture out and check it regularly and collect and remove any of the slugs that have congregated there.

3. Encouraging Predators

Slugs are food to many other animals, so in some ways it’s best to encourage their predators into your garden so they can eat the offenders. If you build a wildlife pond, you’ll encourage frogs (and loads of other wildlife and insects) into your garden and let nature do its thing. A wildlife pond doesn’t have to be huge either. Other animals that find slugs tasty are ducks, hedgehogs, birds, slow worms and even beetles. Put a log pile in a corner of your garden to encourage beetles and they’ll keep the slug population down.