Why don't you buy some Sluggo and sprinkle it on the beds, then mulch with newspaper and grass clippings-leaves? You won't have any trouble with slugs or snails after that.

I have known that table salt will melt slugs/snail but I could not use it as preventive measure..
Today I experimented EPSON SALT on couple of snails. Sure fire, itworks.
I would put some newspaper around the plans, sprinkle some Epson Salt.
You can keep it intact as long as there is no rain or watering, and remove when needed.
Even if you didn't or couldn't for some reason, your soil and plants will not be harmed.
The plus side is that the slugs/snail will die after crawling on ES and they are not going to come back.
Tomorrow I will do this on my broccolies. I get only snails.

cyrus

Beer traps worked well for me. I felt bad wasting 1/3 of a micro-brew, but it was a worthy cause.

From my experience I know that slugs love wheat straw and also bark mulch.

I am using shredded leaves and a reflective fabric (experiment)this year and hoping they leave my plants alone.

Good luck. They are awful little creatures (ewww! and my dog hunts for them and brings them to the door!). The slug control pellets really well.

Ditnc, what kind of dog do you have? I heard that ducks love to eat slugs. Maybe you have a duckdog? Just kidding, I really would like to know, because I was considering getting a rat terrier(to catch the squirrels) Now I would like to get a dog that would rub out the squirrels and the slugs! Thanks, Paul.

The only effective long lasting solution that I have used are slug shields. They are a niche application but I love them. And they're completely non toxic.

Beer is cheap but a gross to empty and slug pellets are toxic to terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates (like earthworms!). SLUGGO + is even highly toxic to bees!