garden snail

How To Get Rid Of Garden Snails

Maintaining a garden means dealing with a lot of different kinds of unwanted pests. Most gardeners are keenly aware of two slimy pests in particular known as slugs and snails. You’ll most likely see a snail or a slug in your garden after it’s rained or you just got done watering your plants. If you find one then there are definitely going to be others hiding somewhere in your yard. Just one snail isn’t going to cause a lot of harm but multiple snails and slugs can have a huge impact if left unchecked. After reading this article, you’ll know just what to do with these slimy pests and how to prevent them in the future.

What To Do After Finding A Snail

People often dispose of snails by throwing them somewhere else in the yard. This is fine for a short-term solution, but there are a few alternatives. Naturally, killing them outright is the fastest solution to the problem. However, if you own chickens, snails and slugs make the perfect snack. Once finding a snail, you’ll want to track its slimy path back to where it originally came from. Usually, you can find a lot more hiding around at the start of the slime path and dispose of them as you find them. After you’ve been able to identify where the snails are coming from you can start figuring out your garden defenses.

How To Prevent Snails

One of the best methods of getting rid of any other snails in the future is by making a trap for them. Find a popular spot in your yard where slugs and snails visit frequently. Completely wetting or dampening that area then placing a bucket or container on top. Make sure that whatever container that you use is also damp or filled with a little bit of water. If you are able to hide your container in a dark area of your garden the more likely you will be able to trap these pests. They love damp, dark, and wet hiding places. After one night of being outside, you should have attracted some snails to the trap. You can dispose of them and repeat the trap setting process. Feel free to set multiple traps if you believe it’s necessary.

You can also use almost empty beer cans to attract snails. They make the perfect hiding spot and also kills them after being trapped in the alcohol for too long. You can easily dispose of the can after one night of being hidden somewhere in your yard. However, you will have to replace the beer can traps after the first use. If you have any loose carpeting with long fringe, you can soak that and leave it in your yard overnight. Snails sometimes swarm to wet fabric that they can cling to.

Form Barriers Around Your Garden

If your snail problem persists you can use a gritty barrier around your garden. Using sand, crushed eggshells or diatomaceous earth can act as a repellent. Snails can get injured when they try to travel across gritty surfaces. If a snail or slug gets trapped in the areas you barricaded they eventually die off.

As a very lost resort, if you do have livestock or chickens around, they can easily wipe out any pests in your garden within minutes. However, that’s a totally nuclear option if you don’t mind your animals getting into your garden and being your pest control.

Hopefully, this information helps you with snail prevention in your garden and around your house. Having too many snails can definitely become a problem but is easy to deal with. Good luck!

Cody Medina
Small Scale Farmer
Hi there! I'm Cody, a staff writer here at The Garden Magazine and a small-scale farmer living in Oregon. I've been gardening most of my life and now live on a quarter-acre farmstead with chickens, ducks, and a big garden.