Chives

Chive plants have a strong scent, which naturally repels many garden pests, including slugs and snails.1 When planted near slug-prone plants or in a perimeter around your garden, chives can act as a protective barrier for most veggies and flowers and keep garden pests out. On top of that, chive flowers are highly attractive to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that help boost yields of fruit-bearing plants such as tomatoes, squash, and pumpkins.

Garlic

As with chives, garlic has a strong, sulfur-like aroma that snails and slugs don’t like.2 Interplanting crops like brassicas, tomatoes, and potatoes with garlic plants can naturally reduce many pest problems and help you harvest pest-free produce. You can also grow garlic alongside many ornamentals that are prone to slug and snail damage, including your favorite roses.

Chervil

Chervil is a lesser-known edible herb with feathery leaves that taste a bit like parsley mixed with tarragon. But in the garden, chervil is a powerhouse plant that can deter slugs and snails, while attracting beneficial bugs like hoverflies and ladybugs. 3 While you can plant chervil near many garden crops, it’s a particularly effective companion plant for radishes, brassicas, and leafy greens.

Mint

Although the scent of mint is deeply appealing to most human noses, many pests don’t like the smell or taste of mint – including slugs and snails. Growing mint near more vulnerable crops can naturally prevent slug damage and deter rabbits and deer as well. However, mint plants do grow aggressively, so it’s best to grow them in pots and place the containers near the plants you’d like to protect.

Sage

Another strongly scented herb, sage, also helps to protect nearby veggies and flowers from slugs, snails, and many other common garden pests.4 Not to mention, pollinators love sage flowers and are more likely to visit gardens when sage plants are in bloom. Just keep in mind that sage prefers to be grown in relatively dry soil and works best as a companion for plants with similar care needs, such as carrots, tomatoes, and brassicas.

Rosemary

Whether you grow it in pots or directly in your garden, rosemary is a must-have companion plant to deter slugs, snails, and other pests.4 Most pests avoid the scent of rosemary leaves, while pollinators of all sorts flock to rosemary flowers when they’re in bloom. Compared to other herbs, rosemary plants aren’t as cold-hardy, though, so gardeners in cold climates may want to grow them in pots and overwinter potted rosemary indoors.

Calendula

Bright yellow calendula flowers attract bees and butterflies and add charm to homemade bouquets. These plants can also help you control slugs and snail, but not by repelling them. Instead, these pests love eating calendula, so growing this plant near more valuable crops and flowers can draw pests away from the plants you really want to protect.5

Lettuce

Like calendula, lettuce is a pest-prone plant that tends to attract slugs and snails. But this makes lettuce an effective trap crop for other veggies. For maximum effect, grow lettuce close to the plants that you’d like to distract slugs and snails away from, and then check the lettuce leaves after heavy rainfall and collect all the slugs you find into a bucket of soapy water.

Cabbage

If you’ve ever grown cabbage in your garden, you probably know that cabbage is one of the first plants that slugs and snails hit after rain. But if you happen to have extra cabbage seeds or plants on hand, growing some cabbage in an out-of-the-way corner of your garden can draw slugs, snails, and other pests away from other veggies and flowers. Keeping trap crops like cabbage in confined areas also makes it easier to spot treat or hand-pick slugs and snails that come to feed.

Comfrey

Comfrey has a long history as a medicinal herb plant, but it’s also a pollinator-favorite that draws in bees and butterflies when the plants are in bloom. However, comfrey also tends to attract slugs and snails, which makes it another useful trap crop to plant in your garden for natural slug control. That said, comfrey can grow aggressively and drown out other plants, so you’ll likely want to grow it in pots or manage the spread of comfrey plants with regular pruning and weeding.