Slug-resistant plants

Plants that prick or... that are too soft

Slugs have a delicate “foot.” They hate to crawl over anything prickly or scratchy… in short, anything that feels unpleasant to the touch.

Thus, plants with thorns, needles, fuzzy or rough hairs are protected from slugs and snails.

This is the case for certain boraginaceae such as borage (excellent at the edge of a vegetable garden!), comfreys, or common viper’s bugloss. But also nettles, globe thistles, thistles and cirses in general, eryngiums, brambles…

Please note: for example, never transplant your cucurbits (cucumbers, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins…) before they have “hairs on their legs.” This means you should wait until hairs develop on the stems so that your vegetable plants are no longer potential victims of slugs.

Rough leaves or fronds are also not favoured by slugs. This is true for almost all ferns, yarrow, astilbes, and sweet woodruff (which is also packed with essential oils)…

Paradoxically, soft leaves also repel slugs. This is the case for Stachys byzantina, mullein, and Ballota pseudodictamnus…

Borage, lamb’s ear, cornflower, and fern

Plants with overly thick leaves

Slugs love tender young shoots. This is why they preferentially target young sowings, recently transplanted young plants, or newly planted perennials that are starting their growth in spring.

Therefore, perennial plants with thick, tough, or waxy foliage will not be nibbled by these slimy creatures. We think of bergenias, lady’s mantle, ivy, periwinkle, daylilies, perennial peas, conifers, epimediums…

Please note: hostas are generally favoured by slugs and snails, but not all hostas attract them. Some varieties, with tougher and blue foliage, are hardly ever attacked. This is the case, for example, with Giant Hosta ‘Empress Wu’.

Anti-slug foliage! Epimedium, Daylily, and Bergenia

Plants that have a strong scent or... that are unappealing to slugs

Slugs and snails have a delicate sense of smell and palate. Indeed, plants rich in essential oils, such as our aromatic plants or certain perennial plants, have the ability to repel slugs.

Among these, we can note mints, common sage, rosemary, thyme, chives, oregano, fennel, garlic, onion, chervil, parsley…, but also hardy geraniums, ornamental sages, nepeta, lavender, creeping bugle, pelargoniums, tomatoes, tansy, wormwood, common rue, blackcurrant leaves, nasturtiums, agastaches…

Beware! Some aromatic plants are still attacked by slugs, particularly basil.

Other plants have such a bitter taste that slugs pass by in disgust. This is the case in the vegetable garden with lamb’s lettuce, rocket, dandelion, or endive.

Among the scents and tastes that slugs dislike: chives, parsley, nepeta, rocket, pelargonium, tomatoes, and lavender.

And what about toxic plants?

Surprisingly, plants (and even mushrooms!) that are toxic to us and some garden wildlife do not bother slugs at all. So, if you thought you could save your plants by spreading poisonous plants: it won’t work!

That said, be aware that foxgloves and aconites, two highly toxic plants from our flora, are not troubled by slugs, but for other reasons.

Key takeaways

As you may have understood, it is difficult to be exhaustive when listing plants that are potentially overlooked by slugs and snails. What you need to remember is that slugs tend to avoid:

• plants with a very strong smell
• plants with a bitter taste
• plants with too tough foliage
• plants that have spiky or, conversely, fuzzy hairs

However, let’s not forget that if slugs have absolutely nothing to eat in your garden, they may also resort to these plants. It is worth noting that slugs rarely attack woody plants (trees and bushes), unless they are very young.

Moreover, slugs play a role as detritivores and recyclers of organic matter. They also serve as food for a large part of the garden fauna: mammals, certain birds like thrushes, some predatory insects like ground beetles, and amphibians. Therefore, slugs and snails have their place in the garden. It is only necessary that these little creatures do not appear in excessive numbers and cause too much damage to cultivated plants. If that is the case, it indicates a problem with the natural balance in your garden.

The slug is part of the life cycle in the garden