How To Control Snails Without Chemicals
photo credit: Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi
To many gardeners, snails are a perennial problem. All your vegetables are growing away nicely when suddenly you visit your plot only to find that an influx of slugs and snails has laid waste to much of your hard work (and future crop).
The knee-jerk reaction may be to consider visiting a local garden centre to obtain some slug pellets but of course these chemical-laden pellets can also cause harm to other creatures if you’re not careful.
But are there really any eco-friendly ways to deal with snails that don’t involve the use of chemicals? And do they really work?
There are five easy, organic ways to control snails, so let’s take a closer look at each one in turn to help provide you with some ideas to test out in your own garden.
Manual Removal
Being soft and moist, slugs and snails like nothing more than cool, damp weather. They are typically nocturnal and only really come out during the day during or after a rain shower which is when they will likely be doing the most damage to your crops.
And whilst it is time-intensive, some people swear by manually removing snails from their garden one at a time. Particularly after a rain shower, one can easily walk around the garden (wearing gloves if necessary) picking up slugs and snails as you find them.
Depending on your personal opinions you may choose to “rehome” them by driving them some distance away from your home or you may do away with them once and for all in a wide variety of ways.
Netting
Snails can be quite bulky and so can struggle to climb up netting. Putting small covers of chicken wire over sensitive crops can prevent these molluscs from gaining entry, so keeping all your vegetables for yourself.
Egg Shells
The sharp edges of broken egg shells will sometimes keep slugs and snails at bay. Placing a small ring of them around the base of your plants is often enough to keep snails away.
Traps
Possibly the easiest method of all to eliminate snails from your garden is with the use of traps. Typically a small container of beer is sunk into the ground so the lip is at soil level. It seems that slugs and snails are drawn uncontrollably to drink the liquid, which then fall in and drown. Simply empty out the traps and refill the beer from time to time.
Hedgehogs
I have to admit that the use of hedgehogs is a long shot. But hedgehogs *love* to eat slugs and snails. So encouraging them into your garden by leaving piles of logs and leaves so they have places to sleep will help not only the hedgehogs but also to reduce your snail problem.
All these methods have been shown to work over the years, though different gardeners swear success with different techniques. For best results I recommend implementing as many of these techniques as possible to see which really seem to work best for you.
Related Eco Friendly Articles:
- 10 Ways To Make Your Bathroom Greener
- 5 Ways To Use Your Garden For Recycling
- How To Grow Your Own Food Without A Garden
Other Eco Friendly Articles We Recommend:
- how to grow your own plant (gbronner)
- How to Grow Tomatoes (Home and Garden)
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