Snails can be a major nuisance in garden beds, destroying crops and ornamental plants overnight. With their rasping mouthparts, these slimy mollusks chew irregular holes in leaves, flowers, stems, and fruits of many vegetables and ornamentals, such as beans, cabbage, lettuce, and strawberries. If you’ve had problems with snails in your garden, it’s time to take action before they do more damage.
The good news is that there are plenty of eco-friendly ways to control snails without resorting to toxic chemicals. By using a combination of tactics, such as removing hiding spots, handpicking, trapping, and barriers, you can gain the upper hand against these pesky pests. Here are 12 of the most effective snail control methods to try in your garden:
1. Remove Their Hiding Places
Snails are most active at night and during damp, cool weather. During the day, they hide in dark, moist areas under boards, stones, debris, mulch, and dense vegetation. Removing these potential shelters in and around your garden beds leaves them more exposed and vulnerable.
Cut back overgrown areas, clean up litter, and keep mulch pulled back several inches from plant stems. Work beds periodically to eliminate weeds and dead leaves on the soil surface. Good sanitation makes the habitat less attractive to snails.
2. Go on a Snail Hunt
Head outside on humid nights with a flashlight and bucket to hand pick snails from plants and the ground. Hunting snails after dark when they are active maximizes the number you’ll be able to remove. Drop them into soapy water to dispatch them or relocate them far from your garden. Repeat regularly to reduce their numbers.
3. Set Out Traps
Luring snails into traps is an easy way to catch a lot at once. Place boards melon rinds, grapefruit halves or lettuce leaves on the soil to tempt them. Collect the hides each morning before the sun heats them up. Alternatively, put out containers of beer or a yeast mixture, which attracts snails until they eventually drown.
4. Use Copper Barriers
Snails avoid crossing copper because it gives them a mild electric shock. Wrap a strip of copper tape around pot rims or the edges of beds to block snails. For individual plants, cut circles from copper screen to place around stems or trunks. Keep copper at ground level so leaves don’t touch and create a bridge for snails.
5. Try Diatomaceous Earth
The sharp texture of diatomaceous earth (DE) deters snails from crawling over it. Create a 3 inch wide barrier around beds by sprinkling a line of DE on the soil. Avoid getting it on plant leaves. Since DE washes away, you’ll need to reapply after rain or watering. Be sure to use food-grade DE.
6. Grow Snail-Resistant Plants
Some plants seem to withstand snail damage better than others. Try planting snail favorites like nasturtiums or French marigolds as sacrificial decoys around more vulnerable vegetables and flowers. Snails tend to avoid plants like thyme, lavender, penstemon, and salvia due to their aromatic foliage.
7. Handpick Diligently
Regular handpicking of snails is one of the most effective ways to keep their numbers down. Inspect plants thoroughly each morning, and crush, toss into soapy water, or relocate any snails you find to a backyard compost pile. Be diligent, as missing just a few each day allows populations to rebound quickly.
8. Water in the Morning
Snails need moisture, so don’t make life easy for them. Water garden beds early in the day to allow the soil surface to dry out by evening when snails are most active. Drip irrigation that delivers water right to the roots is better than sprinklers that wet the leaves and ground where snails travel.
9. Use a Barrier of Sand or Ash
Snails dislike crawling over certain gritty materials that damage their soft bodies. Surround plants with a band of sharp sand or wood ash at least 1 inch thick and 3 inches wide. The snails won’t cross over these abrasive barriers. You’ll need to refresh materials after rain or watering washes them away.
10. Attract Snail Predators
Create an environment that attracts snail-eating birds, snakes, frogs, turtles, and fireflies to your yard. Provide water sources, cover for snakes, perches, and nest boxes. Avoid pesticides that would eliminate these beneficial predators along with snails. Free-range chickens and ducks will also eagerly devour snails.
11. Practice Crop Rotation
Rotating vegetable families to different beds each year limits the buildup of snail populations. Don’t follow one snail favorite, like lettuce, with another susceptible crop in the same spot. Allow beds to rest fallow for a season between plantings. This gives predators a chance to reduce snail numbers.
12. Apply Sluggo
For stubborn infestations, apply an organic bait like Sluggo in the evening when snails are active. The bait uses iron phosphate, which is safe around pets and wildlife. Scatter it lightly around affected plants according to label directions. Reapply after heavy rain or watering until the snails are under control.
By taking multiple approaches, such as removing shelters, trapping, barriers, beneficial insects, and organic bait, you can gain the upper hand against troublesome snails in your garden beds. Consistent monitoring and handpicking are vital for knocking back populations so they don’t explode out of control. Be diligent, and you can protect your plants from these pesky mollusks and still avoid chemicals.
Snails are only cute when they’re not eating your baby lettuce…
Snails will eat almost any plant, but they are especially fond of the tender foliage of young plants and leafy crops such as lettuce or hosta. Their presence is indicated by missing seedlings or large, irregularly shaped holes on leaves or fruits. They may also leave shiny slime trails across leaf surfaces.
Snails are pests of moist, temperate climates, and their hard calcium shell provides protection. Like slugs, snails overwinter in the soil and emerge in spring to lay hundreds of eggs near the soil surface. Young snails begin feeding immediately; they are most active at night and in wet weather. Populations fluctuate depending on the weather. Snails are found throughout North America.
20% OFF Orders $99+ – USE CODE FLOWER25 AT CHECKOUT
Save 20% on orders over $99 on everything on our website, including sale items, excluding Gift Cards. Garden Center Exclusions: In-stock merchandise only, excludes clearance items, bulk stone, and gift cards. Offer expires 3/9/25. Excluded items will not count toward your merchandise total. This offer cannot be applied to previous purchases or combined with any other offer.
Find more garden information
Stop Slugs, Snails, and Pill Bugs From Damaging Your Garden Plants: Easy & 100% Effective!
FAQ
Should I remove snails from my garden?
Slugs and snails will do considerable damage to a garden. If you can keep them out of the garden they can be beneficial to the surrounding area. As they will recycle organic materials.
Why do snails suddenly appear in my garden?
How did I get snails and slugs? Moist plant debris, underneath rocks, low weeds, mulch and fallen logs all provide hiding places for snails and slugs. Moisture is a key requirement for snails and slugs since they are adversely affected by dry conditions and the loss of body moisture.
Will snails hurt my vegetable garden?
Because they prefer succulent foliage or flowers, snails and slugs are primarily pests of seedlings and herbaceous plants. They are also serious pests of turfgrass seedlings and ripening fruits that are close to the ground, such as strawberries and tomatoes.
How to keep snails out of a raised garden bed?
Soft-bodied snails and slugs a reluctant to cross scratchy materials, such as pine needles or crushed eggshells. A continuous barrier of that powdery, sharp-edge irritant, diatomaceous earth, should keep snails at a distance. Others have suggested spreading coffee grounds or sharp sand around vulnerable plants.