Slugs & Snails
Night-feeding molluscs that shred soft leaves and seedlings, leaving ragged holes and slime trails.
🔍 How to spot it
The damage shows before the culprit does: irregular holes chewed from leaf edges and centres, whole seedlings vanished overnight, and tell-tale silvery slime trails on leaves, pots and soil. They feed after dark and in wet weather, hiding by day under pots, leaves and mulch.
💥 The damage it does
Slugs and snails rasp through soft foliage, fresh shoots and seedlings, and can clear a row of young plants in a single damp night. Hostas, lettuce and most tender new growth are favourite targets; established, tough-leaved plants are usually left alone.
🧴 How to treat it
Hand-pick them after dark with a torch, when they are out feeding - the single most effective method. Beer traps, copper tape around pots, and rough barriers of grit or crushed shell all help. Where you use pellets, choose wildlife-safe ferric phosphate and scatter thinly.
🛡️ How to prevent it
Clear damp hiding places near vulnerable plants, water in the morning so surfaces dry by night, and protect seedlings until they toughen up. Encouraging frogs, birds and hedgehogs keeps numbers down naturally.
🌿 Plants that get slugs & snails
A garden problem; worst on seedlings, hostas and leafy vegetables. These 48 profiled plants name them in their own troubleshooting notes:
Garden 47
Tea 1
Struggling to save a plant? The plant rescue guides walk through recovery step by step, and the problem solver works backwards from a symptom. This is general growing advice, not a diagnosis for a specific plant.