- Snail protection: Does copper work against snails?
- Slug Fences and Collars
- Does bark mulch help against snails?
- Repel snails with sheep's wool?
- Preventive measures to protect against snails
- Conclusion: Which snail protection really helps?
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Snail fences, snail collars and copper bands are well-known means of protecting plants against snails. Do these and other slug barriers really help keep slugs out?
Nudibranchs are - unlike the mostly harmless house snails and edible snails - when they occur in large numbers, they pose a real threat to the harvest in your home vegetable garden or to the ornamentation of perennial borders. If they find moist places to survive, sufficient food and warmth without being spotted by predators, nothing stands in the way of the development of the population. As a suffering gardener you then have the salad - full of holes. We present ways of protecting snails in the garden in an environmentally friendly and effective way.
Snail protection: Does copper work against snails?
Copper is used in the form of copper bands against slugs, but has no satisfactory effect. The alleged effect is said to come from the copper ions, which are poisonous to molluscs. Whether the copper gives off ions depends on the pH value and the temperature. Heat and an acidic environment promote the release of copper ions. However, snail slime is not acidic. The fact that some snails are deterred is more a matter of luck.
Tip: Rub a sliced lemon on the copper around your planters or raised beds. The acidic citrus juice activates the copper and creates ions that are toxic to mollusks.
Important: Be warned, however, that copper is sometimes deadly to soil organisms and can also damage crops if consumed at high levels. However, plants generally only take up more copper ions on acidic soils. If the copper is not in direct contact with the ground, there is also little risk of an increased entry of copper ions. Therefore, a copper strip should be attached a good 10 cm above the floor.
Slug Fences and Collars
Snail fences and collars are made of metal or plastic. This is used to surround the entire bed or individual plants. Whenmechanical barrier to prevent snails from entering near the plants. The peculiarity of these barriers is a double folded edge that the snails cannot cross. Snail fences are installed around entire beds. With snail collars, on the other hand, individual plants, especially susceptible young plants, are surrounded. Electric snail fences are also possible, which, with the appropriate voltage, achieve very good results in snail defense. You can find out everything that needs to be considered during installation in our article specifically on snail fences and collars.
Tip: Slugs only live on the ground and are therefore less able to climb than some snails, which also live in trees. Therefore, some snails manage to overcome snail fences or collars. However, this is not really a problem, after all snails prefer to eat withered leaves and only rarely crunchy vegetables. You can read in our special article what exactly the diet of various snails looks like. We also explain which vegetables snails don't like.
Does bark mulch help against snails?
No, bark mulch does not help against snails. If the pieces of wood and bark are moist, the opposite is the case. Because the mulch layer serves as a hiding place and protects slugs from drying out and predators. Eggs are also laid there from June, which - if laid later in autumn - overwinter in the mulch.
If you don't want to do without mulch to protect the soil, but still want to get rid of slugs, you can rely on slug pellets. Our Plantura organic slug pellets, for example, allow the slugs to retreat to their hiding places after they have been taken in and die there. So there are no dead snails in the bed. Compared to other products, our slug pellets offer increased rain resistance and are also gentle on other beneficial insects and pets.
Repel snails with sheep's wool?
Sheep's wool can only be used to a limited extent to protect against snails. She sucks up the slime of the animals, which repels her. In addition, the fine hairs of the wool irritate the snails. They keep bumping into it with their antennae because they can't seem to see the hair. These two factors mean that snails do not move over dry sheep's wool. However, it will be affected by rain or irrigation waterwet, the effect is significantly reduced. Sheep's wool against snails is therefore only a sensible method in rain-protected areas, such as in the greenhouse.
Sheep's wool is used as fresh wool. It should be placed around individual plants in rings 10 cm wide and 3 cm high. Since the wool is light and may be blown away or undermined, it has to be fixed with stones, for example. It is essential to ensure that the weights are not exposed and thus serve as a bridge. They must also be covered by sheep's wool. Wrapping stones or something similar has proven to be useful.
Preventive measures to protect against snails
Anyone who has not yet found a severe infestation in their garden or would like to avoid it in the coming year should definitely rely on preventive measures.
The following must be taken into account as a preventive measure:
- Choose snail resistant plants
- Integrate deterrent plants into the bed
- Encourage predators: Hedgehogs, birds and other garden animals love slugs
- Destroying snail eggs in autumn or spring
- Avoid watering in the evening, instead water in the morning
- Prepare finely crumbly seedbeds
- Press sensitive seeds
Conclusion: Which snail protection really helps?
Many methods are advertised - but not all are equally good at repelling snails. We have summarized other ways of fighting snails in another article.
- Slug pellets help eliminate slugs permanently, thereby decimating the population for years to come.
- Slug fence and collar effectively keep the animals away from the bed or from individual young plants.
- Sheep's wool only helps to a limited extent in dry conditions, for example in the greenhouse.
- Prevention is the best protection: Early and consistent action often protects against a severe infestation.
Tip: You can also use various snail traps to rid your garden of slugs.
If you want to bypass protective measures, you can use plants that snails don't like to eat. You can find out what these are in our article on snail-resistant plants.