Gardeners up and down the UK are being urged to take action over the winter before the weather warms up again.
2024 was a bumper year for thanks to a very wet summer giving them the perfect warm and wet conditions to munch through all of your prized plants
The hungry molluscs will stop at nearly nothing to strip your garden of everything you lovingly planted, chewing through strawberries, raspberries, plants, potato foliage and every type of flower in their quest to satisfy their seemingly unending hunger.
Coffee grounds can help stop slugs and snails (Image: Alex Evans)
Slug and snail populations have been much higher than normalin the past 12 months boosted by the gloomy and wet weather, but it’s going to get even worse in 2025.
That’s because these that fed so well last year all laid eggs ready to burst back into life in the spring, meaning a whole new wave of the slimy beasts will emerge.
But gardeners are sharing a top tip which can help control and repel slug populations before that happens – instant coffee.
Cheap coffee grounds aren’t just a way to perk up your morning routine, but they can also hand everything growing in your garden a boost too.
Caffeine is toxic to slugs and snails and some garden experts therefore swear by it as a method of pest control.
Coffee on strawberry plants (Image: Alex Evans)
Word of warning, though, coffee is a very painful method for slugs to die, worse than salt, so don’t apply coffee grounds directly to any slugs or snails (stamping on them would be much quicker and less cruel).
Instead just sprinkle the coffee grounds onto soil and around raised beds or pots during dry, clear weather, and then when it does rain, the slugs won’t cross the coffee, thereby protecting your precious flowers and crops.
In studies, coffee grounds were found to reduce slug and snail numbers by between 50 and 90 percent.
The coffee won’t have any harmful effects on your plants either, in fact some studies ave found that caffeine actually boosts plant growth.
Gardening blog Tea and Coffee says: “Coffee grounds contain a chemical called alkaloid, which is poisonous to slugs. When slugs ingest coffee grounds, they suffer from severe dehydration and eventually die.
For these reasons, slugs will avoid areas where coffee grounds have been sprinkled. While coffee grounds may not be the most effective way to keep slugs out of your garden, they can be a helpful tool in deterring these pests.”