Eco way to kill snails

[posalie]

What's an eco way to kill snails and slugs? We inherited a beautiful garden, and it's just full of snails (and some slugs) at the moment. The previous owner had lots of slug pellets and similar, but we're worried these will also harm hedgehogs and other wildlife. Is there an eco way to kill them?

(I know some people prefer not to kill them at all, but I need to kill them I'm afraid.)

I'm shocked people cut them in half orstamp on them. I cant stand it if I accidentally stand on a snail. I have a garden we have slugs and snails, I sometimes gather them up to take them on a day trip and knave them there.

I forever feel guilty when you accidentally stand on one. It’s horrible, that crunch

Agreed with accidentally standing on one, it's a horrible guilty feeling 😣

I throw them into the park next door.

To be fair, where I am, I have a massive overpopulation of snails, who thrive in artificial garden environments. They destroy any native seedlings I put in before they can grow. I need to thwart the snails so that I can create a biodiversity- friendly environment. I'm not in the UK, though.

Can I ask, out of genuine curiosity, why any of you need to kill slugs and snails?
We're on our third garden and they've never caused me a problem. Our last garden was teeming with them, but it didn't matter as such.
Yes I've lost some plants and flowers to them over the years, but now choose varieties that they aren't attracted to (heucheras and ferns instead of hostas for instance).
Is this about you needing immaculate gardens where nothing gets eaten? Or do you just dislike slugs and snails because they are slimy?

I collect them in the evening and put them in the green bin with a couple of the most munched hosta leaves.

I'm also experimenting with garlic spray but not holding my breath

I think hostas are the crack cocaine of the snail world.

It's a shame snails look so cute and yet cause so much damage. I'd leave them be if they weren't such decimators

@ImplementingTheDennisSystem - You are of course right really, but I would love to be able to grow hostas and lupins.

DH view is that I should just stop the attempt!

Are they definitely the plant-eating type of snail OP? You get grove snails which have lovely swirling black/brown abs yellow/cream coloured slightly shiny shells and they eat lichen and fungus and are harmless to plants. We have loads and they're friends not foes.

You do get plant eating snails too though, in my experience they're an unexciting brown colour and have a less shiny shell.

I was reading this wondering if I was the only one to just leave them alone! The garden seems to survive.

@CorsicaDreaming

I collect them in the evening and put them in the green bin with a couple of the most munched hosta leaves

This reads like you're doing it as a punishment, hoping they'll learn from their Hosta eating ways!!🤣🤣

The most eco way for them to die is for them to get eaten by birds/hedgehogs etc. so I wouldn’t kill them. I had a friend who used to stamp on them furiously which appalled me (especially when she did it in front of my kids!) I’m a hypocrite though because I do squash clothes moths.

Anyway, I think the best solutions are gather up and take to nearest wild area, verge, untended land etc, if you have time, or keep a snail-friendly corner with lots of hostas, and repeatedly chuck them back in there.

I wish I could. Anything that's not at least shrub sized seems to get eaten back to the ground overnight. I need the sedges to survive long enough to create an environment for the bluetounges, who will hopefully eat the snails...

I use a combo.

Nematodes watered into the soil keep the numbers down
A huge 30cm 3cm deep pile of sharp sand around vulnerable plants
Go out a night with a torch and snip them in half (slugs) and leave corpses for our badger 🦡 , or lob them onto shed roof (snails) for the birds.

Once the plants are established I leave them to it

In an ideal world, I'd let slugs and snails alone, and because of that I've given up trying to grow lupins, delphiniums and hostas. BUT I also grow veg and there's nothing more disheartening than having an entire wigwam of french bean seedlings chewed down to stumps. Or a tray of baby cucumbers attacked before they even leave the greenhouse. I tend to throw snails a fair distance, hoping that the local birds will snack off them if they don't survive. I've used wool pellets as a barrier before and they work ok unless its a very wet year, which is of course when slugs/snails are at their best.

This sounds mean now, but you could get a bird feeder and just put them on there.

Is this about you needing immaculate gardens where nothing gets eaten?

I don’t need immaculate but I would like some flowers! My tulips and hellebores barely flowered because of slugs and snails munching them. I’ve put in 3 clematis which got eaten and died before they had a chance.

It’s a fairly new garden so lots of plants are small and young which obviously is like patisserie to a snail. It’s also tiny so if I lose a few plants it has a big impact.

I am now trying to stick to plants they don’t like, but there aren’t that many to choose from, especially flowering ones.

@Gardeningfool I'm the same . Biodiversity is important but unfortunately we don't always have a balance in urban gardens so things like slugs grow in uncontrollably large numbers as there aren't any/many natural predators.

I've put in every wildlife encouraging measure I can in my small garden (pond, log piles, bird feeders, holes in fences, ladybird house, bee hotel, wild area, leave weeds etc) to try and get a more natural balance but for a short period whilst my sweet peas and veg seedlings are getting established I deter, kill and remove slugs and snails. After that they can slime about as much as they want.

I've even created a mini pond to try and get frogs but none after 2 years. Maybe next year.

We do have a badger 🦡 now

I relocated hundreds over a 2 year period. On damp mornings, when out at 7 with dog, I collected about 15 per morning, in open poo bag, and took them to grassy areas no where near gardens. I made sure they were turned she'll up on emptying bag. I hope the majority survived with their gang, but who knows 🤷‍♀️Haven't had to do it this year, but monitoring numbers 😂

Shell

Slugs give hedgehogs lungworm which kills them. The best way is to try plant snail and slug resistant plants. I tried this and it’s worked to some extent but now the snails seem to eat things they wouldn’t normally like meadow cranesbill. And other things they’ve never touched before like my daffodil petals. If I don’t try to get rid of the snails to some extent, I won’t have any garden left. It’s fine once stuff is established but up to that point everything gets eaten. Last year all my sunflowers managed to get to quite big. Then a load of rain came and the snails ate through the base of the stem and they died. Sunflowers are good for bees and birds and other creatures. So the snails had to all get taken on holiday across the road.

Slugs give hedgehogs lungworm which kills them.

not all slugs carry lungworm, but it can be a problem when it’s very wet and the only food available is slugs.
if you’ve a healthy balance in your garden, there will be a variety of tasty snacks for them.

I am a vegan.
Also I don't chop animals in half.

Honestly. Garlic spray.
also try slightly more established plants

Snip snap snip snap