If you’re growing veggies, slugs can be a real pain.
They’re known to eat through everything from your beloved cabbage leaves to your most stunning seedlings – yet the most recent advice is to avoid killing them at any cost.
The slippery customers are an important food source for birds, the population of which has been in steady decline in the UK.
In fact, data shows that the UK bird population has been slashed by as much as 50% over the past 50 years.
Factors like the recent avian flu epidemic don’t come close to explaining the “steady” decline of UK birds over decades, the Natural History Museum says.
It seems more likely that longer-standing environmental factors – like habitat loss – have contributed much more to the decrease. And yes, gardeners’ mollusc massacres have also had their impact.
So, we thought we’d share a humane way to banish slugs from your garden, using only a melon.
Here’s how you can utilise the fruit, and why it works to banish slugs safely.
1. Cut the melon in half and enjoy the fruit
The aim here, according to Homes & Gardens, is to get bowl-shaped rinds, so make sure you cut your melon in half, rather than quartering it or cutting it into smaller pieces.
After you’ve cut your melon in half, you can scoop out the insides – or slice them, leaving the rinds intact. Honeydew melon is about the right size and shape for the job.
Personally, I’m a fan of this ginger and peanut honeydew salad recipe. But if you’ve got more of a sweet tooth, try this stunning honeydew sorbet – and of course, you can’t go wrong with homemade honeydew margaritas.
If you’re planning to use a lot of melons (i.e. if you’ve either got a big garden, or a big slug infestation), I swear by frozen honeydew lemon slushies.
Whatever way you do it, though, slice your melon in half and then scoop out the fruit. This’ll get you ready for step two.
2. Place your melon rinds out in your garden overnight
Your milkshake may or may not bring boys to the yard, but melon bowls will almost certainly attract any nearby slugs or snails.
Just dot them around your garden overnight and wait. Slugs and snails will be drawn in by the sweet smell of its insides, and then become trapped in its steep bowl shape.
Bear in mind that bigger fruits can be too high up for them to climb, so avoid massive watermelons for the task.
You’ll wake up to a gross, but gratifying, gang of slimy critters.
3. Remove the rinds
Now you’ve ensnared the slugs and snails, you’ll just have to carry them far away from your garden and dispose of them.
You’ll want to tip the melon rind so that they can escape safely. And while you can get away with leaving snails nearby, you have to be more careful with slugs.
“Moving a snail at least 20 metres away will ensure that it is less likely to return, as it will lose its bearings,” says Countryfile.
“Snails’ homing instincts only cover short distances. Slugs can find their way back to where they came from by leaving a unique scent trail.”
And bear in mind that many slugs don’t want to, and won’t, harm your plants – so make sure you’re dealing with the troublesome kinds, and not the helpful compost-boosting sort, before banishing them completely.