I myself use pine straw. It's thin, stays in place, keeps dirt off berries, breakdown slowly, so lasts, Slugs can hide in it. We have them, but they are easily controlled. Only small slugs around here. Copper, diatomaceous earth, and beer all work.

This post was edited by Drew51 on Sat, May 3, 14 at 16:11

I use straw from a local farmer, one thing that deters slugs and the berries love is used coffee grounds

It was recommended to me to mulch with pine needles over the plants in winter. They protected well, allowing moisture through but not rotting the crowns. I have just pushed them aside and it seems they will be good there also. 'Course I've only seen maybe 5 slugs here in Colorado, so maybe I don't have a good handle on the problem.

Thanks!

If coffee grounds really work as mulch that would be great for my strawberries too. Our 'Starbucks' gives away free bags of used grounds every day. I'll look into it. Thanks! Mrs. G

After a little research, I discovered that coffee grounds as mulch create a great deal of mold which is not good for the plants or soil. Grounds can be sprinkled on top of your soil to irritate slugs, but that is really about it. I'll stick with slug bait. Mrs. G