Slugs can cause enormous damage in herb beds. Better not swing the chemical club here. We will show you other methods.
Snails are incredibly important for nature and definitely contribute to better soil quality. But as useful as the animals are, there are two places you wouldn't want snails: in the vegetable patch and in the herb patch.
In principle, you could of course use various pesticides to combat snails in the herb bed. The only problem is that the remedies often not only kill snails, but also other beneficial insects that do not attack your herbs. You also want to use the herbs in your kitchen or make a tea from them. Therefore, you should never use chemical pesticides or agents that contain toxic or harmful substances.
Mechanically protecting the herb bed
A good way to protect the herbs from slugs are mechanical devices. They consist of thin plates or strips protruding downwards at an acute angle from the border of the bed. They prevent the snails from getting into the bed at all. To create this boundary you have several options:
- The commercial variant
- Equip the border with plastic strips
- Mount rain gutter
The commercial version is simple but comparatively expensive. You usually get them directly in a complete package with a herb bed or vegetable beds. The lateral boundary has already been extended by an angle protruding outwards, the edge of which is so sharp that snails cannot slip over it.
The other two variants are cheaper, but they are made by hand. For example, you can use a plastic bed border from the roll as a plastic strip. The boundary strips are available in a straight, slightly and heavily wavy form. To attach, simply insert the strips between the stones when building the bed or attach them with larger stones afterwards.
The last variant is quite simple and can look attractive if you use metal gutters. you buya rain gutter and cut it into suitable pieces so that you can border the entire bed. Now place the rain gutter, with the opening facing down, on the border. For attachment, simply choose stone screws, which you drill through the rain gutter directly into the border.
Home remedies for snail control
If you only have a few snails and don't want to try a cumbersome permanent solution, you could use home remedies. Almost every garden enthusiast will be able to tell you one thing and you probably know a few ideas that come from grandmother's story:
➜ The Beer Trap: You dig an empty mug into the ground and pour beer into the mug. Since the opening is level with the ground, the snails will fall into the trap if they want the beer.
➜ S alt: This is also a home remedy, but only conditionally recommended. S alt not only damages the soil, but also kills the plants that come in contact with it. As the snails move through the s alt, they usually spread it before they die, even in places where you still want fresh greens.
➜ Collect: This household remedy is very effective, harmless to snails and brings a little movement into your evening activities. At dusk, walk around the herb bed with a flashlight and collect any snails you find. Turn over stones, look under shells and pick the snails off the ground.
Dispose of snails - but how?
The question of the question is what you do with the collected and still alive snails. You cannot put them on the compost heap, as they would only multiply there. Neighbor's yard is also taboo, at least unless you want a friendly relationship or can't find a way to keep the snails from coming home.
If you live in a very rural area, you can feed the snails to geese or ducks. If you have a koi pond, the snails will serve as food.
If all of these options are not available to you, a meadow or a piece of forest is enough for you to release. However, there should be a few hundred meters between your property and the meadow so that the snails don't stop by again on their wanderings.