Slugs and snails will no longer be classed as pests by the Royal Horticultural Society, despite being the garden visitor the charity receives the most complaints about.
Instead, Britons should ‘gratefully accept’ the gastropods and see them as ‘helpers’ because they recycle dead leaves and other plant matter that would otherwise pile up.
Research by the RHS suggests the slimy marauders are actually misunderstood, because only nine of the 44 recognised species of slug in the UK eat garden plants.
They ‘play an important role in planet friendly gardening and maintaining a healthy ecosystem’, according to the charity’s principal entomologist, Andrew Salisbury, and are also a food source for hedgehogs and birds.
Slugs and snails will no longer be classed as pests by the Royal Horticultural Society, despite being the garden visitor the charity receives the most complaints about
He said: ‘The RHS is all too aware of the role that gardens have in supporting biodiversity and as such will no longer label any garden wildlife as “pests”.
‘Instead, there will be greater consideration of and focus on the role that slugs, aphids and caterpillars play in a balanced garden ecosystem along with more popular wildlife (or animals) such as birds, hedgehogs and frogs.’
When slugs attack plants, instead of killing them off, the RHS recommends planting a sacrificial species that slugs prefer to eat near any plants the gardener wants to protect.
The charity will also be trying to do ‘positive PR’ for slugs, aphids, ants and ladybirds, all of which have tended to be destroyed in gardens in recent decades, often due to advice from experts.
Writing in the Guardian, Mr Salisbury added: ‘We are never going to eliminate slugs, aphids, caterpillars and other plant-munching invertebrates from our gardens — their existence after all predates the garden itself — and our plots are all the more lively and valuable because of them.
‘Amid the climate and biodiversity emergencies, now is the time to gracefully accept, even actively encourage, more of this life into our gardens.’
Instead, Britons should ‘gratefully accept’ the gastropods and see them as ‘helpers’ because they recycle dead leaves and other plant matter that would otherwise pile up
Each year the RHS releases a list of ‘top garden pests’ complained about by their members, but will now focus more on the threats to gardens posed by invasive species and climate change.
The RHS in recent years has also called for gardeners to leave their grass unmown to help wildlife, and to leave patches of weeds.
The charity’s announcement is not the only boost that slugs and snails have had recently.
From April 1 this year, metaldehyde slug pellets will be banned from sale in the UK because they can poison birds and other animals who eat the slugs.
Gardeners are advised to use less toxic ferric phosphate pellets to control the creatures.
