How to Get Rid of Snails in Garden

Updated on January 25, 2022

There are not many things as amazing as having a lively green garden in front of your house. Imagine you’re walking in your garden and suddenly notice shiny slime trails, the tender leaves of plants are chewed making them unattractive and at worst, plants are being killed making you heartbroken. If this happens, you can be certain that the reason is the snails. 

Unfortunately, a garden full of blooming plants is also an attraction for a variety of hazardous parasites. There is nothing worse than assessing your growing plants to discover that they've made little development or have been damaged by little garden invaders' hands. And if the invader is snails then keeping your garden clear of these snails may be a difficult task.

Why Snails Invade Your Garden

The first step in dealing with a snail problem is to determine what caused it. When snails invade your property, they are likely looking for two things: food and habitat, just like any other insect. Snails flourish in situations that protect them from the sun's heat due to their slimy, damp bodies. They eat on a variety of plants in the yard or garden and are active on foggy, cloudy, or rainy days. 

How Snails Thrive in Your Garden 

Snails feed on organic compounds such as living plants as well as corroding wood, crop yields, and leaves of plants. Snails will eat a wide range of crops and flowers, and besides, they prefer some other sources of food like - succulents, marigolds, hosta, cabbage, turfgrass, basil, lettuce, beans, delphinium, dahlia, herbs, and various vegetables. If they find even one of these in your garden, there’ll be no problem for them in thriving in your garden. 

Reasons Why You Need to Get Rid of Snails

If you happen to not be careful enough in getting rid of the snails in your garden, you need to think again. If you wish to know the reasons why you need to get rid of the snails in your garden, keep reading. 

Snails have a lot of force for such a little species. Snails have a rough, raspy tongue that they use to scrape plant leaves' margins. The consequence is big holes and chips all over the plant's surface, which can harm or even kill your plants. That isn't all they do, though.

The reasons why you need to get rid of snails in your garden:

  • Snails have a negative impact on agricultural output. Snails will devour your plants and limit your crop quality if you have a flower or vegetable garden on your land. They're especially tough on leafy greens.
  • They have the potential to devastate water features. Parasitic snails and slugs can harm fish in beautiful ponds and water features. Furthermore, these water-loving mollusks multiply quickly, causing your electronics to short out and obstructing pond or pool filters and pipes.
  • They are carriers of disease. Diseases and parasitic worms (particularly Schistosomiasis) are carried by snails and can be harmful to household pets and humans. Having them on your premises might endanger your health.

How to Get Rid of Snails

Now for the most important part, how to get rid of these little snails in your garden, you need to follow these methods: 

Set down rough substances - Many rough substances work well as snail repellents. Gritty objects will cut the snail's body, causing it to get damaged. Garden snails will be hindered and eventually killed if crushed eggshells, sand, or diatomaceous earth are sprinkled around plants that they seem to prefer.

Use Bait - You already have an efficient kind of snail bait in your fridge if you have a can of beer. Beer includes yeast, which attracts snails and is a tried-and-true home cure. Fill a shallow dish or wide-mouthed container halfway with beer for optimal results. Place it where you've seen snail activity, gently burying the dish in the ground to make it easier for snails to get to it. Snails will sniff the beer when they come out to dine, crawl in, and drown. The deceased snails can then be thrown away. Other baits, like grape juice and store-bought iron phosphate, will work just as well.

Traps - If you're trying to find a solution, traps may be a good choice. Traps are a safe option if you have snails in your garden. Snail traps can be built easily using inverted grapefruit halves or melon or orange rinds dispersed throughout the garden or purchased. Traps function by releasing a fragrance that attracts snails, then catching and killing them when they come. 

Introduce Natural Predators - Birds like pecking at snails and slugs. Set up a birdbath in the garden to attract birds. Other natural predators, such as beneficial insects, might also be considered. If the situation allows, you might consider purchasing egg cases of praying mantis and letting these insects take care of some of your issues. Other typical domestic pests such as cockroaches and ants will also be eliminated by birds. It's a major bonus for you because they can easily locate food in your yard.

Create a Hiding Place for Snails - Another trick is to find a flattened object with a dark, chilly, damp environment. Snails like dark, chilly, wet environments. This habitat can be created using a board, a piece of carpet, or thick fabric. After watering the area, place the object on top of it. Return in a few days to retrieve the object. The snails that are hiding can be caught and destroyed.

Create Obstacles - Barriers are one of the most efficient snail repellents. This organic snail management method entails placing something unpleasant in the snails' route. Garden snails will be deterred by copper wire, Vaseline, or even mesh curled outwards.

Now you know how to get rid of these little snails in your garden. Make sure to remove these snails as soon as you see them and keep your green garden as amazing as it always is. 

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