whats a safe way to control garden snails?
One way of dealing with them is to take a flashlight out into the garden after dusk and collect them – disposing of them as you see fit. However, picking on the big ones seems to have the unfortunate effect of stimulating the smaller slugs and snails left behind into comparatively rapid growth. Another approach is to provide barriers between susceptible plants and the pests. Removing the cap from a plastic drink bottle and cutting the bottom off gives you a cheap and instant one-plant cloche that can give protection until your delicate seedling has grown to a less vulnerable size. On a larger scale, it is possible to cover the soil around a group of plants with abrasive material such as sharp sand, soot or commercial products which slugs and snails find unpleasant. But remember that slugs can travel under the surface of the soil and that rain and other weathering can quickly reduce the effectiveness of the material. Slugs and snails can be given a merry death with a beer trap. Commerci
