SlugFest
They're icky and they're ooky and alltogether goopy -- annd another of those creatures that almost nobody has anything good to say about. They're slugs, and they're the bane of almost every gardener's existance.
While it's true that slugs are an important part of nature's cleanup crew, unfortunately they seem to think they have a mandate to clean up most things that don't move. Ours, for example, clean up the canned catfood that Tuan The WonderCat doesn't eat. We don't mind this service, since Tuan can be a terribly fussy eater and it keeps the backyard a bit neater. But after they've tidied up his bowl (tidy except for their silvery slime trails), they amble their slow way over to the four o'clocks and strip them down to the rootline before sliding onward to investigate the flowers just getting started in the butterfly garden bed. They show their appreciation of the four o'clocks by gnawing them down to the soil.
There are almost as many ways of getting rid of slugs as there are of discouraging deer.
For a wildscaper, putting out poisoned bait (the most effective method of slug control) is probably the worst option. While it does get rid of slugs, other wild critters come along and feed on the poisoned corpses and these chemicals get into the food chain and affect creatures we don't want harmed. You can eliminate most of your slug problems by using a combination of control methods and encouraging some of the slug- eating predators to come lurk around your house.
The first step is to eliminate places where slugs can hide during the day. Hoe your garden area to break up dirt clods and destroy eggs. Make sure your compost pile is located away from slug-vulnerable plants. Boards, stones, leafpiles, weedy areas around tree trunks, leafy branches growing close to the ground, and dense ground covers such as ivy are ideal sheltering spots. If these areas are too close to your gardens, the slugs will slide out and help themselves to your tasty plants.
The next most effective method of getting rid of slugs is putting out flowerpots and boards for them, checking these places regularly, and crushing snails and slugs you find there (or flushing them down the toilet. It's a bit violent for my tastes, but it's very effective. Do NOT use salt to kill them. That will increase your soil salinity and give you yet another gardening problem to deal with.
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