Slugs & snails

UK public enemy number one for seedlings. What helps: torchlight hand-picking on mild damp evenings, beer traps sunk in the soil near vulnerable plants, nematodes watered into moist soil, and encouraging birds, frogs, toads, hedgehogs, slowworms and ground beetles. What does not: an RHS trial found no reduction in slug damage from barriers made of copper tape, bark mulch, eggshells, sharp grit or wool pellets.