Slugs and snails no longer classed as pests says RHS

Jenny_Aster

There we have it   

"Slugs and snails will no longer be classed as pests by the Royal Horticultural Society, despite their reputation as a garden menace.

Britain’s leading garden charity says that although the gastropods are the garden visitor about which they receive most complaints, they should be considered an important part of the garden ecosystem.

In fact, the slimy creatures are misunderstood, as only nine of the 44 recognised species of slug in the UK eat garden plants, according to research by the RHS.

They also “play an important role in planet friendly gardening and maintaining a healthy ecosystem”, according to the charity’s principal entomologist, Andrew Salisbury.

Slugs are nature’s recyclers according to the RHS, clearing dead matter from the garden, and are also important food for more beloved garden guests including hedgehogs and birds. Some species even get rid of algae from greenhouses."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/04/planet-friendly-rhs-to-no-longer-class-slugs-and-snails-as-pests

Fairygirl

Oh well...that's fine then....
You sometimes wonder if they [the RHS] have too much time on their hands...

I think most people who have gardened for a while know that not all slugs and snails are the Devil incarnate, but it's not much consolation when the little b***ers are decimating plants overnight! 

I don't think hedgehogs eat as many slugs as folk reckon either. That's another conversation entirely 

Obelixx

Slugs and snails I find munching my treasures are still the enemy here.   I have lost mature clematis to snails here, munching the new shoots so they never recover and countless seedlings.

I don't use pellets any more, not even the ones accepted as organic as we have hens and cats and dogs but I happily pick the blighters off and drown them in our pond or lob them into the hedgerow across the road, depending o where I find them..   

Jenny_Aster

Can you treat your chickens to them? 

Jacquimcmahon

so far the slugs have happily munched my primulas, so sorry they are still a “pest” to me.

AnniD

 So that's alright then. 
Maybe the RHS gardens are in the lucky position of having very few slugs and snails. I'd love to know what the gardeners there really think. I was aware that they're not all "baddies", but l wonder how new gardeners feel when they see their efforts scoffed by the misunderstood creatures.

If the RHS said there were certain types that they wouldn't class as pests anymore, that's fine by me, but a sweeping statement like that is annoying. 

I wonder if l tranferred them from my plants to the greenhouse algae, they'd think "This is a bit of alright, l will never touch a dahlia again".

Hedgehogs do eat slugs, but l don't think the UK hedgehog population is a match for the slug population, and it's been years since l saw a thrush battering a snail shell on a stone.

Just my luck to have some of the nine out of forty four species in my garden. 🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌
What are the chances.

Obelixx

No @Lizzie.  It seems they carry nasty parasites and I have now lost 2 chooks to them and am still doing preventive dosing on the 3 left.  That means we have to throw away their eggs for 6 weeks.   Bloody frustrating.

Jenny_Aster

Gosh never knew that @Obelixx - that's nasty 

Obelixx

Nor did I till the vet told me.   There are vaccines available but only in quantities for huge commercial flocks so it's going to be constant vigilance from now on.

Fire

Can we class cats as garden pests instead?

bcpathome

Oh wow. I wonder how many other chicken owners know about that. I also consider snails and slugs a pest whatever is said about it.