These small pests can cause big damage in your garden. Maybe you’ve noticed holes in your leaves and fruits or entire seedlings have been eaten. Slugs often leave behind a slimy trail and jagged holes, so if this if what you’re experiencing, you might have slugs. This is a problem if you are growing new plants or relying on your garden for fresh food.
Slugs like vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, and tomatoes. They also eat flowers and love seedlings because they are soft and tender. So what don’t they like? Plants with rough or fuzzy leaves will irritate their bodies. Anything with a strong scent or sticky sap they will avoid. Thick and leathery leaves are difficult to digest for these little creatures.
Below is a list of annual and perennial plants that slugs tend to avoid. You may notice some plants are listed as annual and perennial. This is due to different varieties of these plants having different zone ratings. Please research what zone you live in and be aware that zone ratings may vary by +/- 1 depending on how extreme our weather is each year.
Annuals
Ageratum
Alyssum
Begonia, Fibrous
Begonia, Wax
Bidens
Cleome
Coleus
Cosmos
Dianthus
Fuchsias
Gazania
Geranium, Zonal
Impatiens
Nasturtium
Nemesia
Nicotiana
Poppy – California
Portulaca
Snapdragon
Sweet William
Verbena
Zinna
Perennials
Alchemilla (Lady’s Mantle)
Armeria (Seathrift)
Aquilegia (Columbine)
Armeria
Artemisia (Wormwood)
Astilbe Aubretia (Rock Cress)
Bergenia (Saxifraga)
Campanula (Bell flower)
Crocosmia
Dianthus (Carnations/Pinks)
Diascia (Twinspur)
Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)
Digitalis (Foxglove)
Echinacea Coneflower
Echinops (Globe Thistle)
Epimedium, (Barrenwort)
Erysimum (Wall Flower)
Euphorbia (Cushion Spurge)
Ferns
Geum (Avens)
Geranium (Cranesbill)
Gypsophila (Baby’s Breath)
Helleborus (Lenten Rose)
Hemerocallis (Daylily)
Heuchera (Coral Bells)
Iberis (Candy Tuft)
Lamium (Spotted Dead Nettle)
Lavandula (Lavender)
Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy)
Lupinus (Lupine)
Nepeta (Catmint)
Penstemon (Beard Tongue)
Phlox subulata (Creeping Phlox)
Phlox paniculata (Garden Phlox)
Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder)
Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan)
Salvia (Perennial Sage)
Santolina (Lavender Cotton)
Scabiosa (Pincushion Flower)
Sedum (Stonecrop)
Stachys (Lamb’s Ears)
Verbascum (Mullein)
Veronica (Speedwell)
Vinca minor (Periwinkle)
