Slugs and snails

[numan]

PLEASE!!

Does anyone have an EFFECTIVE way of getting rid of snails? My poor garden is being eaten alive!

I've tried beer, but that just attracts them more and they just gorge themselves all the way to the pub!

I've spent a fortune on pellets, but that doesn't stop the new ones finding my garden and to be honest, I think mine have become immune and I've tried salt, but have the same problem!

Has anyone spotted a 'for rent' ad in the Snail Times for my garden????

Any help would be gratefully appreciated - I'll get you an orange for xmas, honest!

Numan

[fairkatrina]

Put down broken eggshell along the borders of your garden, that should keep them out. Or for an even more effective method, use sand or grit (but that is messy!) You will of course have to remove all the snails already in residence, because the little bleeders are asexual and reproduce at a truly alarming rate, so even one remaining will soon be surrounded by many generations of a loving family! To get snails to emerge soak the garden, like worms they come out in the wet and will be easier to spot.

[numan]

Cheers Katrina - I'll definitely try that. Luckily, my new neighbours are really soapy and don't touch their garden (yes, we now have a mouse too - 'nother story tho'..), so I chuck all the resident snails we have over there! Hopefully they eat all their weeds! Actually, since I posted this, I've heard that putting down porridge oats seems to work. Apparently, they eat it and it dries them out.. just have to bury 'em then. So now I've a couple of things to try.

Thanks again for your advice, I'm really grateful

Numan

[spudqueen]

I have read that putting beer down just attracts slugs - as you have discovered. And I don't think throwing snails in next doors garden will help - they will be able to find their way back. My father-in-law goes out with a torch and picks up all the slugs and snails he finds, well only the little ones as he says the big ones are too heavy to climb up his plants. Don't know how he kills them though.

[wildwood]

Pellets will work, and here is a method to keep them dry and safe from pets.

After you've had a good meal of chinese takeaway, wash the plastic container and lid. Make a one inch [or bigger if you have large snails] hole on each side just under where the lid fits. Put some pellets in, put the lid on and slightly dig it in so the bottom of the holes are level with the ground. Put a brick or other heavy object (not your Mother in Law) on top of the container so pets can't get at it. Very soon you should see expired snails/slugs in the trap and the bait stays dry.
If you want a second trap you will have to go to the trouble of eating yet another chinese takeaway, but hey, life is tough.

[numan]

Thanks Wildwood - that's the best one yet AND it made me laugh!

I'll be out there this arvo with me little pots, for sure.

Numan

[numan]

You're SO right Spudqueen! The beer just seems to attract all the neighbours snails too, they then all have a feast at the Numan Diner on the way to the pub before they snuff it! What a way to go..

My mum now uses vaseline aroung the edges of her pots and up any poles she has with baskets on and this seems to work a treat. They just can't grip the stuff - but it doesn't stop 'em crawling across the dirt to the bedders.

Still, I've had such a lot of advice from all you lovely folk now, I've got loads to try and if I find a really miraculous cure, be sure I'll be sharing it with you all.

Thanks everyone

Numan

[nightmare]

Are there any French restaurants near you........?
Just a thought.
You could make some money

[numan]

Apparently, they only take snails with an accent.. and they have to be sober, so I'm afraid I lost out on that one.

Thanks for thinking of me tho' - most appreciated.

;?)

[taichiperson]

Hubby goes out in the evening with a pair of pliers, picks 'em up and drops 'em into a bucket of (old) beer. Repeat as desired! Yuck

[antiguru]

I�ve tried most organic solutions over the years and few work. It won�t get rid of the *******, but oats around new shoots as they come up does stop them getting eaten (fills the slugs and snails up).

Picking them off is the best solution. But what to do with them then? One year I put them all down the septic tank, but they crawled out and it was like a scene from a living dead film. Zombie slugs and snails!!

Now I collect them up and introduce them to the traffic. I put them in the middle of the road. As they crawl to the side of the road they find themselves in the line of tyres��..

The real damage is done by ones that are almost invisible though. Look out for eggs (tiny yellow spheres) as you re-pot and squash these.