There’s nothing quite so disheartening for home gardeners than
to see newly purchased flowers or vegetables literally eaten up
overnight by marauding snails.
There’s nothing quite so disheartening for home gardeners than to see newly purchased flowers or vegetables literally eaten up overnight by marauding snails.
I’ve even had six packs of flowers attacked by snails while sitting on my front porch, waiting to be planted. And this year is especially bad for snails because of all the late rains we’ve had. Ah, but we don’t have to stand for it.
A home gardener’s first line of attack against snails is usually with baits. There are a plethora of baits out there – from pellets like good old Bug-Geta to powders like Corry to liquids like Deadline.
But wait. What if you have small pets or children? Veterinarians concede that snail bait can be deadly. Most baits contain metaldehyde, which can kill a pet when only a small amount is eaten.
One teaspoon of snail pellets can be a lethal dose for a large dog. This is very dangerous stuff.
So, I normally avoid the pellet baits and use powder, granular or liquid forms of snail bait. All of these are poison, too, but they’re much less apt to attract Fido.
The newest bait on the market isn’t even a poison; instead, it’s a fertilizer. Sluggo contains iron phosphate, which is deadly to snails, but won’t harm pets or toddlers. Of course, the drawback is that Sluggo is often twice as expensive as the other stuff. Other alternatives include:
David versus Goliath
We’re much bigger than snails, and move quicker than them, too.
So, it’s only sensible to hand pick the critters. This can be fun for the kids, especially when they get to take flashlight in hand and go hunting in the garden after dark.
Make a game of it to see who can collect the most. Be careful how you dispose of the snails, though. They can eat their way out of bags and crawl out of garbage cans.
Sealing them in cans, squishing them, salting them down in a container, dropping them in a solution of water and ammonia, tossing them into the street – hey, all these disposal methods work. Caution:
Do not take salt shaker in hand and start strolling the garden because of the toxicity of salt in the soil. Consider hand-picking snails like hand weeding.
Your best bet is to be vigilant and keep at it on a regular nightly basis.
Become a trapper
This doesn’t mean wasting good beer by placing tins of beer in the garden to trap snails. There are other trapping methods.
For instance, snails and slugs are attracted to sawdust, lettuce or cabbage leaves, sliced turnips or potatoes and grapefruit shells.
All can be placed in the garden at dusk, and collected in the morning. Clay pots can be used as traps when placed sideways close to the shady side of plants.
Snails will gather in their shade during the heat of the day.
Wooden strips about an inch high can also be attached to a wooden plank, and used as a trap.
Slice ‘Em Up
Sharp or caustic barriers – everything from crushed eggshells to horticultural lime, fireplace ash, human hair and commercial copper barriers – will deter snails, whose soft bodies are hampered by such barriers.
Copper tape will deliver small electric charges that shocks snails and slugs into a hasty retreat.
Thrown to the lions
If you live in the country (or know someone who does), collect snails to feed to ducks, geese, chickens, turtles, birds and frogs.
There’s a community college not far from where I live with a plethora of ducks and geese.
A weekly jaunt to feed them snails may not sound exciting, but my daughter enjoys it, and the garden is looking better, too.
