Slugs don’t like plants that are tough, bitter or hairy. They will more likely choose lettuce over chicory and brussel sprouts over your sprouting broccoli, and for the record they prefer your chrysanthemums over your dandelions (basically all the good stuff!). Slugs will hate with glossy or waxy leaves too because it prevents their tongues from scraping away the surface. They also hate pungent-smelling foliage like lavender because the fragrance is contained in the plant’s vessels that fracture when touched by the slug releasing essential oils which would be a little like gargling on rich perfume for a slug.

20 top slug beating plants

The following plants are the most resistant to slugs. Here, resistance does not mean complete immunity, but picking from this list is the best advice.

• Grasses
• Hellebores
• Aquilegias
• Lavenders
• Astilbes
• Fuchsias
• Pelargoniums
• Astrantias
• Begonias
• Crocosmias
• Ferns
• Japanese anemones
• Lilium henryi
• Hardy geraniums
• Hydrangeas
• Lady’s mantle
• Penstemons
• Roses
• Euphorbias
• Sedums

Tips for foiling slugs

Do not overfeed your young plants in the spring, this only encourages a soft growth, which slugs love eating.

Water the garden in the morning, as trails of water over the garden in the evening are slug highways. Always water at the plant roots where possible, dip potted plants into buckets of water.
Encourage the natural predators. Plant trees to encourage roosts for birds and grow berry producing plants to entice the thrushes into your garden.