FOR many people, gardens are their pride and joy - and with good reason, too.
After all, an outdoor oasis filled with colourful plants and a luscious green lawn can take years of hard work and graft to achieve.
So you can just imagine the frustration of gardening fans who head outside to water their plants in the morning, only to find that slugs have ruined their plants in an instant overnight.
Well, according to gardening expert Tom Clifford, from Gardenstone, there's a super simple way you can get rid of the pests once and for all.
And it costs as little as 99p.
Speaking to Fabulous, he credits the use of cinnamon powder, which can be bought from your local supermarket, and some may even have in their kitchen cupboards.
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When the slugs start to make their way across the cinnamon it will coat their bodies and therefore result in them turning around
Tom Clifford
"Cinnamon powder is an affordable kitchen cupboard staple that can be used to deter slugs within your garden, without harming plants or other animals," he explains,
Sharing his advice on how to best use the bargain buy, he suggests: "Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon powder on the soil around the base of your plants.
"When the slugs start to make their way across the cinnamon it will coat their bodies and therefore result in them turning around.
However, this method doesn't come without its hindrances.
Tom warns: "The only problem with this method is that the cinnamon will be washed away every time it rains.
"Reapplication can be time consuming, especially in large gardens, so it may be better to use this method during the summer months."
Meanwhile, the gardening whizz also suggests that instead of throwing away your egg shells, you can reuse them in your garden to prevent slugs from eating your plants.
"Take your empty egg shells and place them in a container until they are fully dry, then using a pestle and mortar crush the shells into small pieces," he recommends.
"Take the crushed egg shells and sprinkle a healthy amount in a circle around the circumference of your plants.
"Slugs have delicate skin so the sharp edges of the egg shells cut their bodies and kill them, preventing them from eating your plants."
Common garden pests
Common pests in the garden don’t need to be a cause for alarm. If you can identify them, you can work on getting rid of them and preventing them from returning.
Aphids (Greenfly, Blackfly)
Aphids are extremely common and can impact plant growth. They have tiny soft pear-shaped bodies, and are usually green or black. You may spot them clustered on the stem of soft shoots – look under leaves in particular – or may find a sticky substance on your plants that gives away aphids have been there sucking at the sap.
Whitefly
These small white-winged insects are related to aphids, at just 1 or 2 mm in length, and look very much like white moths as adults. They can be found on the underside of leaves, preferring younger, fresher leaves. They fly in clusters when you disturb them. Their lifecycle is only three weeks long, which means an infestation can occur very rapidly.
Slugs
An unmissable, squashy-looking body plus small sensory tentacles on its head. Slugs move along on one muscular foot. They range in scale from surprisingly small to terrifyingly large; limax cinereoniger species can grow comfortably beyond 20 cm in length.
Cabbage Moth Caterpillar
Cabbage moth caterpillars happily make their way into the heart of the vegetables, The caterpillars are distinguished in shades of yellow or browny green with no hair.
Mealy Bug
Mealybugs are tiny oval-shaped insects that have a white, powdery wax coating. There are several different species, many of which have what looks like legs coming from their sides and back end. In their earliest stage of life, it’s entirely possible to mistake them for fungus and not recognise them as insects at all.