Snails in Your Flower Beds: Waging the War

So far, I haven't found a very good reason for snails to exist. They are slimy, and after they've feasted on some of my prettiest pansies, the flowers look as though they've gone through a paper shredder. If I'm not careful when I walk in my garden, I am likely to hear unpleasant crunching sounds when I inadvertently tread on one. You really don't want to be around when I reach down into my gorgeous orange poppy plant to pull out a weed and encounter a slimy snail instead. Yikes!

In addition to being a garden pest, snails in many lakes harbor a parasite that causes "swimmer's itch," an annoying rash that attacks those who swim in warm lakes, especially in the hottest part of the summer.

I suppose a case might be made in favor of snails just because some people think they are good to eat, and because they eat the algae off the inside of your fish aquarium. I have never eaten a snail, but the very thought popping one of the slippery little bodies into my mouth almost gives me an upset stomach, and, at the present time, I don't have an aquarium, so I'm sticking to my original statement that, so far, I haven't found a good reason for snails to exist.

Here are a few ways I have found to decrease the snail population in our yard. No one method is a cure-all, but I figure the major battle has been won, and I have now reached the "mopping up" stage of my war.

1. Try diplomacy first by attempting to deter the enemy.

Check out the snail-infested area carefully. Remove old boards, flowerpots, rocks, or kid's toys that make good hiding spots for the snails since they are nocturnal creatures and like to keep out of the sun and heat in the daytime.

Snails like moisture so water your yard and plants early in the day to make sure the area will be dry by evening when the snails come out and do the most damage. Hopefully, if your yard isn't hospitable, they will move on until they find one that is.

Sprinkle wood ashes around your plants. This is an inexpensive deterrent which is good for most plants as well. If you don't have ashes, maybe a neighbor will be willing to share some with you.

Try planting things that help repel snails. Pumpkins, rhubarb, parsley, azaleas, ginger, fennel, corn, and beans have often been credited with lowering the snail population in many yards. Since it is mainly my front yard that seems to be affected, I have only tried azaleas so far, and it is true that they stay away from the azaleas. (That doesn't distract them from the pansies though.)

Many people report success with using copper to repel snails. Some make a ring of copper pennies, or copper wire around the plants they are trying to protect, but with the new craze of copper theft making the news, I would be afraid that my "Snail Barrier" might disappear in the night.

I did try crushed nut shells, but removed them before I had a chance to determine whether or not they were successful because they were almost impossible to work around. (I hate wearing gloves.)

Coffee grounds around your plants will deter a few of the hungry snails, as will a ring of crushed eggshells. However, the eggshells are similar to the nutshells in that they are not pleasant to work with, and the coffee grounds need to be replaced frequently.

2. When diplomacy fails, don't hesitate to wage full-scale war.

If you are not squeamish about disposing of the dead (or alive) bodies of the snails yourself, lure them with a dish of dry cat or dog food in a tin pie plate. If you set it in a cool, moist if possible, dark place over night, you are likely to find a plate full of snails feasting on it when you get up the next morning. If you find an empty plate, try it again, but sneak out with a flashlight and a plastic bag in the middle of the night. You can dump the whole plate of snails into the bag, secure the top, and wait until morning to dispose of the bodies.

Other inexpensive baits you can use are a bowl full of beer, or a cake of yeast dissolved in sugar water, the theory being that snails are attracted by the smell and then drown when they try to get into the container to consume it.

Salt is probably the most effective way to get rid of snails, but you need to be careful not to kill your plants by using too much salt close to them. Instead, sprinkle a circle of salt around the plant at a good distance away from the plant itself. A water pistol filled with salt water and aimed directly at the snails works better if you can find them in the daytime.

There are iron phosphate pellets which can be applied around your plants but they have to be re-applied frequently. (See link below for more information) They are non-toxic to humans and other wildlife and are similar to the supplemental iron tablets doctors often prescribe to their patients, but where they are beneficial to humans, they are toxic and fatal to snails.

There are also a number of commercial baits to eradicate snails, some very effective, and some less effective, on the market so you may want to go that route if your snail infestation is very resistant to less expensive and more natural methods. If you are like me, you probably prefer the least costly method, and the one that will result in the least amount of pesticides being released into the soil.

If you just can't bring yourself to look at, much less deal with disposing of dead snails, you can always enlist the aid of a few of their natural enemies...

Lizards and snakes, frogs, and toads, are noted for keeping yards clear of snails and slugs, and blackbirds love to find a cache of nice slimy snails to peck at.

I don't have room for a duck pond, but if I did, my first choice of a natural enemy for my now, only occasional, re-infestation of yard snails would be a pair of ducks. I used to live next door to a lady who had a duck pond I could watch from my kitchen window. Nothing was more peaceful than to watch those duck having a swim while I washed dishes after dinner each night.

You might want to try the ducks first. If they don't earn their keep by ridding your yard of snails, at least you will have roast duckling to look forward to for Thanksgiving dinner.

*Link for information on iron phosphate pellets:

http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/ingredients/factsheets/factsheet_034903.htm