4 simple ways to get rid of snails

Get rid of snails

Protect Your Plants From These Thinning! Here are our simple, non-toxic options to get rid of snails in your garden.

As you browse the garden, you will find that your hostesses look like Swiss cheese. Who could have committed such a crime? Possible culprit: Snails. These slim, coarse-toothed ants prefer moist, shady conditions and lush fresh growth. This is hard for hosts of the Globe of Goo, but they are not desirable - you can find them in other plants as well.

I battled a lot of snails in the Garden Gate test garden and have some control tips to share. Of course, you can use slug bait. Most of today's bait is not as toxic as the old formulas. But I like to stick with non-toxic options as much as I can. These four low attack techniques do a good job of keeping snails away from my most valuable plants, and these methods do nothing to harm beneficial insects, pets, or people. Read on and then go to the garden to get rid of these slimy pests in your garden!

Traps

Instead of picking up snails one by one from your plants, use food or hiding places to collect them in one place, then drop them into a bucket of soapy water, feed them to your chickens, or (eh!) Crush them underfoot.

Let them eat oranges

Snails love citrus! Buy cheap oranges or grapes for slug traps or use the peel left over after squeezing the orange juice. Leave citrus halves near vulnerable plants - snails usually jump out of the hosts and are busy exploring this new offering. Check your citrus traps once a day so snails are less likely to go back into your plants. Throw away spent skins in your compost pile, but remove snails first!

I'm so bored

The board on the floor in the shade may not seem like much to you, but for snails, it seems like the best place to spend a day. Place a 1 or 2-foot-long board under the plants to create a moist, shady shelter that will attract plenty of snails. Snails are active at night, but on hot days, they retreat under mulch, rocks ... or board traps. When the snails enjoy their siesta under your board, check the trap in the afternoon.

Obstacles

Once you have attached the snails from your plants, you do not want them to return to the soft leaves the minute you turn your back. These easy barriers will keep pests at a distance.

Shocking results

When snails come in contact with copper, it shocks them - scientists think the sludge reacts with copper to create a shock. You can buy copper strips and tape to use in the garden. They will last for many years and you can reuse them. I like to use strips around soft young plants, giving them a chance to settle. But you can also use strips around large plants. Make sure that no leaves outside the copper bar touch the ground, as snails can use them as "bridges" to reach other parts of the plant. It is a good idea to polish your copper bars occasionally - research shows that bright, shiny copper is more effective than strips that have begun to rust.

Need a cheaper alternative to copper strips? I got good luck with the Copper Bone Scrubbers (like the Sour Boy brand) from the grocery store. These copper mesh bundles can be pulled out into long, thin ribbons and pressed into the soil around the plant, as I did in the inset of the photo. (If you have difficulty contacting the soil, attach them with landscaping needles.) When using these scrubbers, I think the sharp edges are not as unpleasant to snails as copper. Make sure the tips are close together so there is no gap to allow the snails inside.

Diatoms to the rescue

Yes, I called Diatoms. Diatomaceous earth, a white powdery substance, is made up of crushed tiles of fossil diatoms, small hard-tiled algae-like plants. What has that got to do with snails? Well, Diatomaceous earth is abrasive. This creates small incisions in snails' soft abdomen so that they dry out - there are no holes in the hosts!

You toast Sprinkle lightly on Diatomaceous earth under the drip line of the hostas and other shade plants as if placing cinnamon sugar. Make sure the 5- or 6-inch-wide diatomaceous earth is completely surrounded by the plant. You should use it again after rain because it washes off into the soil. Be careful when you use it - you do not need those small abrasive particles in your lungs, so do not forget to wear a dust mask and gloves.

Here you have it. These four easy-to-use methods will prevent snails (as well as their best-protected relatives, snails) from doing bad things to your valuable plants. You do not have to worry about storing poisonous slug bait in the garden shed!