Things That Make You Go Green

Gardeners, do you have any eco-friendly tips to share on how to get rid of snails? Check out this picture and you’ll see my problem.

Yes, what you see in my BBQ are snail carcasses!! And, I did not put them there. One day last summer, I opened up the grill to fire it up, gave out a small scream and recoiled in horror when I saw all of these empty snail shells. (I am such a girl. I can’t help it.) Ugh. Thinking about it still makes me shudder.

Anyway, off I went to the local hardware store to buy some snail repellent, which worked like a charm, but in retrospect, I think it probably contained all sorts of bad chemicals. Oops.

So here I am, one year later. I’ve been doing some research on more eco-friendly ways to deal with my snail problem. One idea is copper wire - apparently snails have some sort of reaction when are in contact with copper, kind of akin to a little zap or shock. I’ve never tried it though. It seems like it might be expensive especially if I need a lot of it.

I also read somewhere that snails (and slugs) like beer. If you fill some bowls with beer, they’ll climb in and drown. I have no idea if this really works - do you?

Finally, I just read about using coffee grounds. The caffeine is a neurotoxin, causing snails (and slugs) to writhe uncontrollably and die. This site recommends using drip-brewed, caffeinated coffee grounds, as well as spraying with brewed coffee. I am going to try this - let me know if any of you have had any success with this!