Joan Swenson: With snails, it's kill or be killed — at least for your garden
| Thursday, Mar 12 2009 02:48 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 25 2009 06:16 PM
Trimming my winter-browned beach spider lily leaves a couple of weekends ago, I was also picking and chucking snails.
Little tiny snails and their monster-sized grandparents were clinging to the strappy leaves of the lily (also known as Hymenocallis littoralis). Because I was wearing my favorite Nitrile-coated gloves, I stripped and grabbed as many of the plant-devouring snails as I could find and disposed of them.
Snails and slugs are an irritant in the yard, but at least I can get a grip on them — literally and figuratively. They move slowly, they’re predictable, and they’re easy to catch by hand, poison or trap and kill. Control, if not eradication, is possible and I’m able to limit the snail’s damage. And unlike some other pests I’ve tried to battle in my yard, they don’t seem to spread diseases.
If you have plants and moisture in your yard, you’ve got the European brown snail. It is an omnivorous eater, feeding on vegetables, fruits, and just about any kind of tender foliage. Thus, snails’ love of my beach spider lilies and the nearby hollyhocks, which the snails pepper with holes.
Planting a spring flower or vegetable garden? Watch out for snails, which can strip a bed of fresh, young marigolds to stems overnight. The clue will be the dried, sparkly snail trails on the soil and on your now-ruined flowers.
The best snail control is your hands.
If I’m wearing gloves in the yard, I have no problem with grabbing any snail or slug I see and getting rid of it. When I’m on a purposeful snail hunt, I use plastic bags that my newspaper is delivered in. I cover one hand with a bag — that’s my picking hand — and carry the other bag for the snails I pick up.
Pick in the morning, when the snails are heading back to their daytime homes.
Or create a trap. Place a board raised an inch or two above the ground in a cool, moist area. Check the bottom of the board in a few days, in the late afternoon. Turning over the board, you’ll find snails that have accumulated during the day.
Cleaning up hiding places, too. Rake around shrubbery and dispose of accumulations of leaves and foliage.
Don’t bother with the suggestion of putting out saucers of beer, as it is no more effective than a saucer of water is for drowning snails.
I would be cautious about using poisons where dogs have access, because many dogs have been killed or made deathly ill with the use of baits that attract both snails and dogs. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, dogs are animals most frequently poisoned by metaldehyde-containing snail baits. The bran flakes or pellets laced with poison attract canines.
Liquid snail killers containing metaldehyde (one product is named Deadline), may be less appealing to dogs, drying directly on the soil in a black line. Still, I would be cautious about its use around dogs.
With plants that are extremely attractive to snails, marigolds being a prime target, I would squirt a line of the liquid snail killer around the perimeter of the planting.
Sluggo snail bait is said to be nontoxic to animals, but I have heard from readers who say even this product should not be used around dogs. Iron phosphate is its main ingredient and the product is said to biodegrade and enrich the soil. (It’s approved for organic gardening.) The snail and slug knockdown is not immediately noticeable, because the snails and slugs crawl away and die elsewhere.
— Opinions expressed are those of Joan Swenson, not The Californian. Her column appears on Wednesdays. E-mail her at jswenson@bakersfield.com.
