Eco Tricks To Combat Snails

Snails can become pests in the garden, especially when they eat all the lettuce leaving little for the human family.

Snails can become pests in the garden, especially when they eat all the lettuce leaving little for the human family. Here are some ideas to control then the environmentally friendly way.

1. Use copper earthing wire (available from the hardware store) to make a border around your plants. Make sure the wire is secure to the ground with no gaps. For large areas roll the earthing wire around dowels secured into the ground. Snails will not move over copper.

2. Crush eggshells and scatter them around you plants. Snails hate the sharp edges of eggshells, and an added benefit is that when they break down they improve the soil health.

3. Use diatomaceous earth around your plants. The fossilised remains of the diatoms that make up diatomaceous earth are like sharp shards of glass to a snail. Sprinkle it on the soil around the plants you want to protect, and repeat after watering or rainfall. It’s important to use food-grade diatomaceous earth in gardens, and not the manipulated one used in swimming-pool filters.