How To Deter Pests, Without Causing Harm

Many gardeners are now looking to adopt more sustainable practices and reduce their use of harmful chemicals and poisonous substances, particularly those in homes with pets, and children.

Others may have been left scratching their heads after the ban on metaldehyde slug pellets last, however it is possible to deter pests sustainably!

Keep Slugs and Snails Away

If you’re looking to stop your hostas from becoming target number this summer, wool makes for a brilliant natural slug deterrent.

If you looked at a wool fibre under a microscope, you’d see that it has lots of tiny scales, which give it a serrated appearance, and this is what makes wool sometimes feel scratchy to touch.

Hortiwool is made up of coarse wool, which would never be sent to make jumpers out of for this reason, and it’s not just our skin that it irritates – slugs and snails find it uncomfortable too, causing them to retreat from any areas covered in wool!

The fact that wool absorbs moisture really well also helps, as it soaks up their slime to prevent them from crossing it.

Simply cut or tear your Hortiwool Garden Pad to create a barrier around the base of your plants, or garden beds.

Deter Rabbits and Rodents

Wool can also be used to deter other pests such as rabbits, deer, and rodents.

As wool grows, sheep naturally produce an oil called lanolin which helps to protect it’s skin and wool, (it also has other cool benefits such as waterproofing and anti-microbial properties) but most importantly, it comes with a very specific (sheepy) smell.

Because of this, it works to deter wildlife notorious for their love of fresh greens, by confusing their sense of smell, making it harder for them to locate your plants!

Break up your Hortiwool Garden Pad and place it around your plants, or hang it near them on wooden stakes to keep hungry animals at bay.

Hide Young Plants From Birds

Birds are often very welcome visitors to your garden, helping to stabilise the natural ecosystem by eating other pests, and in some cases even assisting pollination.

However, sometimes they can be destructive themselves. It’s really common for birds to take seeds, flower buds and fruit, as well as pecking holes in turf and damaging seedlings.

Hortiwool is a fantastic natural alternative to conventional horticultural fleeces, protecting young plants, while allowing them to flourish because it its insulative and moisture retaining properties - it even adds nutrition into the soil as it breaks down over time... we can't promise the birds won't want the wool instead for nesting though!

Using wool is an easy and cost-effective way to protect your plants, and offer several other benefits, such as improving soil health, moisture retention, nutrition, and weather protection.

Our Hortiwool Garden Pads are available to shop online now! Show us your grows using #hortiwool