Gardeners should learn to love slugs and snails rather than devise ever more fiendish methods of eradicating them, the Royal Horticultural Society says.

Those who have spent a lifetime fighting the garden pests and cursing the damage that they cause are now being advised to invite them in and offer them dinner.

The society wants to increase the number of garden slugs, snails, bugs and grubs to support hedgehogs, frogs and other animals that feed on them. So it issued guidance yesterday on the need to encourage “ugly wildlife”.

Creepy-crawlies form the staple diet of many larger species that are struggling to find a suitable habitat, and gardens are regarded as potential sanctuaries. Although householders have responded to campaigns for more suitable habitats, a survey by the horticultural society and the Wildlife Trusts shows that much more can be done.

The recent decline of hedgehogs, frogs, toads, goldfinches and brown bumblebees is of most concern.

To make gardens more attractive to wildlife, the society said that householders should introduce a range of animal-friendly plants and increase the number of creepy-crawlies. “We’ve got to think small,” says Helen Bostock, of the society. “If you don’t get the food chain in the garden you’re never going to get the fluffy, pretty, higher forms of wildlife.”

Among the “ugly little things” that gardeners are being asked to encourage are beetles, the lawn-destroying crane fly, sap-sucking shield bugs and the gardener’s traditional foes — slugs and snails. The plants that gardeners are being asked to put into their beds in clumps, rather than individually, include English marigold for hoverflies, butterflies and bees; ragged robin for moth larvae; goldenrod for flying insects and angelica for finches and tits.

Allowing parts of the garden to run wild will help to attract insects. Stacking or even burying logs encourages beetles and grubs, and ensuring that beds are well mulched with home-produced compost will provide food and shelter for countless insects, slugs and snails. Some flowers should be left to seed rather than being dead-headed.

Trees, ponds and hedges all provide habitat for creatures to live in and travel along to reach new areas. Berries, nectar and seeds are a vital food source. The society wants new housing estates to be designed with green “corridors” for wildlife.

Stephanie Hilborne, of the Wildlife Trusts, said: “The importance of varying ground cover and shrubs should not be underestimated in supporting the less popular creepy-crawlies, which play a vital role in the food chain and in making gardens effective as self-sustaining wildlife habitats.”

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