Slug rings are a good defence, but also think about beetle banks

Slugs dislike copper - how can you put this to good advantage?
I have a big slug problem in my garden, as I am constantly adding large quantities of organic matter to my soil. I have been using copper with my raised beds to find the best solution. On one bed I have added copper slug tape around the top, which seems to work well but it looks a bit Heath Robinson and is not cheap (4m costs £6.50). I am also adding 10mm copper pipe, hammered out flat around other beds. This will cost around £1.50/m. Copper lightening conductor (12.5mm thick and 1.5mm deep) is another option, but this is more expensive at £3.8m per metre run from Keison International (www.keison.co.uk, 01245 600 560).

I have just painted a thin band of new copper paint on two beds, which is a copper powder which you mix in with an epoxy resin and hardener and apply with a roller. It will cost around £80/ per square metre. Aside from deterring slugs and snails, it also looks decorative and will be available in the spring from Great Grass (www.greatgrass.co.uk; 0845 225 2114).

How about copper tools?
Many gardeners swear by them. This is very difficult to prove scientifically, but I have just bought a trowel (£24) from Implementations (0845 330 3148; www.implementations.co.uk) and am testing it out.

Any new research?
Nargis Gani, a PhD student has finished her research on slugs at Cardiff University, part sponsored by the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (www.pgro.org). Gani found that the common field slug avoided areas previously occupied by its four most common ground beetle predators. When slugs sense the presence of ground beetles they stop, raise the front of their bodies, and wave their heads from side to side, before turning away. Hopefully someone will create a product based on the extract of ground beetles for use as a slug deterrent. In the meantime, encouraging them with beetle banks works well.

How do you make a beetle bank?
Raise your soil by about 1 inch (for drainage) and grow tussocky grass such as Cocksfoot and Timothy. Let it form a thick, undisturbed thatch. This insulates the beetles from extreme temperatures. Add perennials such as yarrow, knapweed and wild carrot to pull in hover flies and ladybirds too. The Game and Wildlife Conservancy Trust (www.gct.org.uk) has measured 1,500 beneficial predators per sq metre.