Slugs and snails can become a real nuisance and devastate entire beds. One frequently used method can even make the situation worse.
We all love having a garden, but let’s face it, those pesky snails can really get in the way! They’re slimy, they multiply quickly, and they leave a trail of destruction in their wake. But don’t fret! There are ways to tame these little critters and keep your garden looking its best.
Never cut snails with scissors: Garden plague looms
When snails attack your garden, despair can quickly set in. Some species eat laboriously cultivated plants and vegetables in large flocks.
Many hobby gardeners then see red and reach for the (garden) shears to cut up the unwanted guests. According to the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), this is not a good idea for several reasons:
- Ethically questionable: cutting them up causes unnecessary suffering to the animals.
- Attraction effect: Surprisingly, the smell of cut-up snails attracts other members of the same species.
- Cannibalism effect: Snails also live cannibalistically – killed conspecifics become an inviting source of food.
Never cut snails with scissors: Garden can be protected more effectively
So if you cut up the snails and leave them lying around, you risk attracting even more snails from surrounding gardens. NABU therefore recommends more effective methods for controlling slugs in your own garden:
- Encourage beneficial insects: Attract natural enemies of snails such as leaf beetles, slugs, slow worms, toads and hedgehogs
- Collect snails and eggs: Find eggs in dark corners and in the soil in the fall, collect adult snails under boards, pots or large leaves in the morning.
- Keep the soil dry: Water specifically on the plants in the morning, allow the soil to dry out during the day.
- Sprinkle coffee grounds: Spread dried coffee grounds around plants. This household remedy works wonders against slugs and snails.
- Place on raised beds: Move plants out of reach of snails.
With these natural and animal-friendly methods, slugs – not all of which are harmful to the garden – can be effectively kept at bay without scissors. A balanced ecosystem in the garden is the best long-term protection against snail infestations.
