3 Ways to Get Rid of Snails

2024 Author: Samantha Chapman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 09:13

Snails can be a real nuisance in the garden, as they blissfully nibble on your plants, flowers and vegetables. Fortunately, there are many techniques at your disposal - natural and otherwise - to get rid of them.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Use Natural Repellents

Step 1. Make beer traps

One of the best known and most effective ways to get rid of snails is to build beer traps. Here's how to do it:

• Place saucers, bowls or buckets (depending on the size of the problem!) Filled with cheap beer in the garden and leave them overnight.

  

• Snails are attracted to the smell of beer, they enter the container, where they become intoxicated with alcohol, fall and drown.
• If you don't want to waste good beer on snails, you can make similar traps with grape juice or water mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of yeast and a tablespoon of sugar.

Step 2. Try using copper

This metal is used by many gardeners to repel snails and slugs. You can use it in the following two ways:

• You can buy copper tape at a nursery and wrap it around the perimeter of the garden or flower bed, or you can simply sprinkle copper coins around the base of the plants you are trying to protect.
• Copper repels snails thanks to a reaction between the metal and the mucous membrane (or mucus) produced by the snails when they move. Copper sends an unpleasant electro-neural signal, such as an electric shock.

Step 3. Sprinkle some crushed eggshells

Another effective method used by many gardeners to repel snails and slugs is to sprinkle crushed eggshells on the soil surrounding vulnerable plants.

• The eggshells have sharp edges, annoying for the soft bodies of the snails, which in this way avoid passing them to get to the plants.

  

• This is a particularly environmentally friendly method of repelling them, because egg shells contain a lot of calcium which nourishes the soil.

  

Step 4. Use the coffee

Studies conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture have shown that coffee is extremely effective in hunting and killing both snails and slugs, and can be used in two ways:

• You can put cold coffee in a spray bottle and spray it on plants, leaves, soil and even the snails themselves.

  

• Alternatively, you can sprinkle the coffee grounds around the base of the plants you want to protect. This also contributes to enriching the soil.

  

Step 5. Encourage snail predators

One way to discourage them is to encourage the arrival of other beings who hunt snails.

• Among these are toads and frogs, which you can lure into your garden by getting yourself some ceramic toad houses. Turtles, snakes, and salamanders are also believed to hunt snails, as are most birds (especially robins).
• Allow ducks and chickens to roam your garden. They too eat snails and snails; indeed, they find them quite nutritious! However, they can trample or eat plants, so be careful!

Step 6. Get the diatomaceous earth

This is a great way to get rid of snails. The important thing is that you get the non-toxic edible version.

• Diatomaceous earth is a type of powdered rock made up of fossils of small marine organisms. It has very fine sharp edges, which are harmful to the soft bodies of snails.
• It can be sprayed on plants, on the ground and in flower beds. However, it becomes much less effective when wet, so you need to apply a new coat after watering your plants or after rains.

Step 7. Use other deterrents

The list of products that can kill or discourage snails is endless. Some other common substances are:

• Powdered ginger, talcum powder, burnt wood ash or lime. Lint that remains in the dryer is also fine, as well as animal fur or fur.

• Collect snails and snails to move them to another area. Bringing them a few meters away (about 6 meters) from your garden is as effective as a pest control.

  

Method 2 of 3: Change the way you care for the garden

Step 1. Change your watering schedule

Snails prefer moist land, as it is easier for them to travel and move quickly.

• You can simply water the plants in the morning, instead of late afternoon or evening, so that the soil dries up as night falls.
• In this way they have greater difficulty in moving, and their presence can be reduced by up to 80%.

Step 2. Plow the soil often

It is a good idea to frequently loosen the soil around plants and flower beds with a rake or pitchfork; this eliminates all snail eggs in the soil and the number of specimens.

Step 3. Remove any debris from underneath the plants

Snails like to hide in every nook and cranny they find; so if you remove any debris from plants and flowers, they are more exposed and, therefore, less inclined to settle there.

Step 4. Put some landscaping material, such as wood chips, gravel and sand

Snails have a hard time moving around on these types of material, so they may be discouraged and change where they live.

Step 5. Grow plants that repel snails

Some flowers, plants, and herbs can be snail repellent, so you may want to consider introducing them to your garden. Among these are flowers such as freesia, daylily, azalea, foxglove, tansy and hibiscus; among the aromatic herbs you can consider mint, rosemary, fennel, parsley and basil.

Step 6. Manually harvest snails from your plants

It can be expensive, but a surefire way to get rid of them is to physically pick them up with your hands. The best time is early in the morning or late in the evening, as they are most active at these times.

• Once harvested, you can manage them in two ways: you can crush them immediately, or put them in a bucket and take them to another place, away from your plants!
• A quicker way to harvest them by hand is to place ceramic pots upside down in the garden and leave them overnight. Snails gather under it, then the next morning you will be able to catch several at once.

Method 3 of 3: Using Pesticides

Step 1. Use metaldehyde

It is a natural compound that is used as a pesticide to kill slugs, snails and other gastropods. It is very effective, but it is also toxic, so you should not use it in the backyard where pets such as cats or dogs are also found, or where small children run the risk of ingesting it.

Step 2. Use iron phosphate

It is a molluscicide used to kill slugs and snails. It is the main ingredient in commercial repellents (such as Sluxx or Derrex) and is only harmful to snails; this is the best solution for environments where there are also children and pets.

Step 3. Make a garlic spray

Chop the garlic and mix it with water. Leave it to marinate for a few hours, then pour the water into a spray bottle and spray the liquid on the flowers, plants and herbs. It will act as a natural repellent against snails and slugs.

Advice

• You can also try sprinkling the garden with salt every day. This is a good system, because the salt is not visible. You can get big sacks of salt, like the de-icing one, for a good price. If snails try to enter your salt-covered garden, they dehydrate and die. Make sure you sprinkle it every day, as sprinklers disperse it easily. By continuing with this method, you should soon find your garden free from snails.
• If you don't have time to free your garden from snail infestation on your own, you can contact an exterminator. He can do this service for you.