Garden pests, like slugs munching on your plants, can be a major headache when you're trying to keep your greenery safe, and often, you don't catch it happening. Slug feeding occurs at night, so the only sign of these pests is your ruined foliage and gross slime trails.

Gardeners will often reach for harsh chemicals for convenience and effectiveness, but this can, in turn, damage their garden. However, there's a surprisingly simple solution that’s probably already in your fridge. With just one common drink, you can lure and eliminate some of the most annoying garden pests: here's how this easy trick can help you reclaim your garden.

Experts at Gardening Know How revealed that using cola can actually banish slugs from your garden for good. They shared: "Apparently, using Coke in the garden is nothing new to some folks.

"Some people poison their slugs, and some drive them to drink by luring them with beer. Just fill a low bowl with Coke and set it in the garden overnight."

The idea of the cola trap is that the sugars from the soda will entice the slugs. Once the slugs enter the bowl they will drown to death due to the acid.

An entomologist at the Royal Horticultural Society spoke to BBC Science Focus about the effectiveness of beer and cola traps. Dr Hayley Jones said: "It maybe does have promise, but there's a chance that it might not be helpful because it's attracting the wrong kind of slugs.

"Or because it's actually attracting them from farther away. Plus, there’s also the risk you’ll catch ground beetles and other non-target animals."

Can the cola method kill other pests? 

According to the experts at Gardening Know How, this method can also get rid of pesky wasps. They shared: "Since cola is attractive to slugs, it stands to reason that it might be enticing to other insects.

"Seems this is true, and you can build a cola wasp trap much the same way that you did for your slug trap. Again, just fill a low bowl or cup with cola, or even just set the whole open can out."

The wasps will be attracted to the sweet nectar, and once in the can or bowl, they will drown in acid. The expert continued: "There are additional reports of coke being the death of other insects, such as cockroaches and ants.

"In these cases, you spray the bugs with coke. In India, farmers are said to use coke as a pesticide.

"Apparently, it is cheaper than commercial pesticides. The company denies there is anything in the beverage that could be construed as useful as a pesticide, however."