Home remedies used by gardeners to deter slugs and snails are to be tested scientifically for the first time, reports BBC.
Researchers at the Royal Horticultural Society are investigating whether the likes of egg shells and copper have any effect in keeping slugs away. The RHS is starting scientific trials of five traditional remedies to see if they are based on science or myth. Dr Hayley Jones says the results, available in the autumn, will help them advise gardeners with real confidence.
“It will really start to tell us how well some of these barriers work,” she said. “Is it worth spending your time and money on them?”Until now there has been no formal study of the benefits of copper tape, sharp horticultural grit, pine bark mulch, wool pellets and egg shells, compared with doing nothing, she said.