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A plea rings out from gardeners across the country every year for a reliable control for slugs - something that will put an end to their slimy antics. Perhaps I'm in a lucky minority, but despite not having a pond my garden is hopping with frogs

to pesticides where possible, so I don't use slug pellets. This season I've discovered the versatility of copper in my battle with Britain's No.1 garden pest. It's been found that copper rings and tape provide an effective barrier across which slugs and snails

blocked.For the first 18 years living here there was never a rat in sight, but within a few months of setting the chickens up in their new home, the rats arrived. As chickens become popular in residential areas I wonder if anyone else is having the same

nigrescens, pictured above, looks stately and structural — a simple feature anyone could replicate.Growing hostas in pots is also great for anyone troubled by slugs and snails — and who isn't? In addition to H. nigrescens, I grow a host of other hostas

hope they've discovered a few more overwintering slugs and snails.Frost will certainly have proved beneficial to my clay soil. Left roughly dug in autumn the frost will have penetrated deeply, helping to break down the clay particles and making the soil

conditions encourage early fruiting, and if planted in hanging baskets, strawberry plants are less likely to be attacked by slugs and snails.Don't forget that cunning blackbirds, with their keen sense of smell, can find their way into greenhouses through open