enemy #1

I caught this little creature in my garden over the weekend and quickly busted out the coffee grounds. The snails and slugs here on the coast are real enemies to the garden. My newly seeded carrots where under attack and my green bean leaves look like swiss cheese. Here are some of the tips I have learned from fellow gardeners or from recent reads. Good luck!

• Pulling the weeds from your garden is something you need to do anyway. As you pull each weed, you remove a potential slug outpost.
• Keep all decaying matter cleaned out of your garden beds. While leaves make a good mulch, once they begin to compost they become food and shelter for slugs and snails.
• Prune the branches of any shrubs which are laying on the ground. Keep the old leaves and such cleaned out. By doing this you will have destroyed yet another slug haven!
• Cultivate your soil regularly to keep the dirt clods broken up, and unearth any slugs which may have burrowed under the surface.
• The shaded areas beneath decks can be a slug arena: keep them weed and litter free.
• Just about anything can become a slug home. Boards, rocks, pots and other gizmos should be kept out of the garden.
• Keep the lawn edges trimmed. Slugs will congregate under the umbrella of unkept grass.