Slugs eating your plants? Offer them a beer!

Gardeners have been told to rid their bedding plants of pesky slugs - by offering them a beer. 

Slugs are attracted to beer thanks to its yeasty aroma, and it is one of ten common household items that experts at GardenBuildingsDirect.co.uk have said can be put to unusual uses in the garden. 

Offering beer to a slug sounds like a strange solution to damage being caused in the garden, but leaving out shallow dishes beside plants can be a great method to trap them.

Whether it be lager or bitter, slugs are drawn in by the aroma, ultimately causing them to drown. 

Other common household items that can be used in the garden include food products such as banana skins and eggshells, and everyday items like matchsticks and washing up liquid. 

Aspokesperson for GardenBuildingsDirect.co.uk said: “Our advice to anyone blighted by slugs is to simply offer them a beer. 

“If you’ve been having issues with them eating your plants, placing a few shallow dishes around the garden will help draw them in. 

“Other household items you can use outside are products like coffee grounds, which are full of nutrients and an excellent addition to a compost heap.

“Whilst banana skins make for the perfect natural fertiliser thanks to the numerous nutrients they contain. 

“Everybody loves a hack, especially one that saves money. Putting these common household items to use in your garden could help to solve any issues you’re having whilst saving you money as well.” 

Here are GardenBuildingDirect.co.uk’s ten common household items you can put to unusual uses in your garden:

Beer

Attracted by the yeasty smell, placing dishes of beer around your garden can help to solve any issues of slugs eating your plants. The garden pests will be drawn in by the aroma and then drown in the liquid. 

Banana skins

Banana skins can be used as a natural fertiliser as they contain numerous beneficial nutrients like potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus which all help to promote healthy plant growth. 

Eggshells

Eggshells are a great source of calcium which is an essential nutrient for plants. By crushing eggshells into powder and placing them into soil around your plants, you’ve created an excellent homemade fertiliser. 

Coffee grounds

Coffee grounds make an excellent addition to a compost heap and can be used directly in soil around most plants too thanks to containing nutrients that plants use for growth. 

Washing up liquid 

Adding a small amount of washing up liquid to a water spray bottle and regularly spraying over plants, particularly focusing on the leaves, gives you a way to deal with aphids without the use of pesticides. 

Bubble wrap

Protect plant roots from frost during the winter months by wrapping bubble wrap around plant pots tied with twine. You can also stick it to windows of unheated greenhouses to keep them insulated. 

Matchsticks

Burying used matchsticks head-down into soil can help to promote plant growth thanks to matchsticks containing small amounts of phosphorus.

Colanders

A quirky alternative to hanging flower pots thanks to their drainage holes. If you’re looking to repurpose an old colander from your kitchen, consider lining one with soil and small plants and use string or twine through the handles for it to hang. 

Potato water

Next time you’re making a Sunday roast and go to drain the water you’ve boiled your potatoes in down the sink, perhaps allow the water to cool first then use it in the garden on your plants instead. As long as salt wasn’t added, the nutrients released from potatoes are beneficial for plant growth when used to water them. 

Muscle pain relief spray

You might have some of this spray lying around if you’re an avid sportsperson. But it can also come in handy if you’re wanting to keep cats away from your garden. Apply spray to dried-out teabags and then place them around your garden. The tea leaves absorb the smell which cats hate, and the smell should last for a few weeks.