Gardening hacks: The leftover kitchen ingredient that could keep garden pests at bay

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From whipping up a batch of cupcakes to frying a delicious omelette in the morning, there are plenty of uses for eggs in cooking – but they might not be something you think of when it comes to the garden. Despite this, eggs could actually work wonders in helping your plants and flowers to thrive.

The key isn’t the egg itself, but rather the leftover eggshell.

Instead of throwing your eggshell into the bin, you can reduce food waste by reusing these in compost or sprinkled on soil.

According to GardeningKnowHow, eggshells can work as pest control to keep the likes of snails and slugs at bay.

How to use eggshells as pest control in your garden

GardeningKnowHow says: “Crushing eggshells for pest control is as easy as tossing your empty eggshells into a food processor for a few seconds or just rolling them under a bottle or rolling pin.

“After the eggshells are crushed, sprinkle them around the areas in your garden where you are having problems with slugs and other crawling pests.”

Eggshells can also be put in compost or soil as a kind of “organic insecticide”.

Why do eggshells work in the garden?

The reason eggshells work as a pest repellant in the garden is due to their sharp edges.

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Critters like slugs and snails can’t fly, but they do now know to find shortcuts.

Luckily, the sharp edges of eggshells help as a deterrent.

The sharp edges can impale or cut slugs, which is why they avoid them.

However, it is important you ensure the shells are clean and dry.

When peeling an egg, try to remove the inner membrane and rinse thoroughly.

On top of this, it isn’t just keeping pests at bay that eggshells are handy for.

They can also be added into your compost, later adding nutrients to our garden soil.

This is because eggshells are a rich source of calcium and other essential nutrients that plants need.

As the shells take some time to decompose, however, it is a good idea to crush them up before adding them to your compost pile.

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