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5 slug-proof plants you need to add to your garden this spring
The worst feeling any gardener can experience is stepping outside in the morning to take a look at your newly sprouting plants only to discover that theyve been ravaged by slugs and snails in the night.
Its so dispiriting, says British gardening royalty Alan Titchmarsh on the latest episode of the Gardeners World Magazine Podcast. In the bite-sized episode, the gardener and broadcaster reveals five types of plants that slugs and snails dont seem to bother with at all, which means that the sight of your beloved plants being full of holes can become a thing of the past.
Ferns
While ferns may not be the most glamorous plant to include in your garden, Titchmarsh explains that they just wont get nibbled at all, in my experience.
Theyre brilliant for shady spots, he says. [There are] so many different forms that are crested or frilly or feathery. They are really useful.
A variety of fern called Dryopteris is a particular favorite of Alans as he says the hardy plant is great in dry spots, and also damp because ferns tend to enjoy damp, not waterlogged, ground.
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Geraniums
One of the most popular plants among gardeners are geraniums as they are one of the most brilliant, reliable, hardy garden plants, explains Titchmarsh.
Geraniums are brilliant for not being eaten, he adds. It happens mostly with plants which have downy leaves. If you look very closely, [they have] small hairs on their leaves.
Slugs and snails dont seem to like eating hairy-leaf plants, he says. So the geraniums are brilliant.
Alchemilla (aka Ladys Mantle)
Another plant with slug-repelling hairy leaves is Alchemilla, also known as ladys mantle.
As well as having hairy leaves, this plant also boasts frothy flowers of acid yellow, green or lime green, according to Alan, and it has these scarlet-edged leaves which hold on to droplets of water like quicksilver, [or] like mercury.
And the reason, if you look closely at the leaf surface, is its coated in very fine down, he explains. And that down, as well as allowing the surface tension of the water droplet not to be broken, it puts slugs and snails off eating them.
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Penstemons
You want spectacular flowers? You want elegant flowers? Well, penstemons, for me, tick both boxes, explains Titchmarsh.
Theyre rather like an elegant foxglove. Leaves not hairy surprisingly in this case, he says. But somehow, there must be something in them that slugs and snails tend not to like.
These elegant plants come in several colors depending on the variety, including white, pale pink or even deep, crimson plumb in a variety called Blackbird, Titchmarsh says. Theres one called Sour Grapes which is sort of blue and green mixed together. Really good for giving summer color.
Fuchsias
And the final variety of slug-proof plants that Alan Titchmarsh recommends are the ever-popular and incredibly hardy fuchsias.
Fuchsias have been around since time immemorial, he says. [They] get everywhere.
Ferns, geraniums, ladys mantle, penstemons and fuchsias will never give you cause for complaint, says Titchmarsh in summary. Or a slug or snail a hearty meal, serves em right.
The Gardeners World Magazine Podcast is available on podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible among others.
