Plants against snails: what really helps?

Snails are among the archenemies of all hobby gardeners, but there are said to be plants that can drive them away. We show how to fight snails.

When snails (Gastropoda) attack vegetable and flower beds, it is often very annoying, after all you have put a lot of love and care into your own plants. Especially salads, but also basil (Ocimum basilicum) are particularly popular with hungry snails - then there is often not much left of the plant. Next to slug resistant plants However, there are also those that actively deter snails with their smell.

Scare away snails with herbs

Snails have a fine nose and are put off by different smells. Snails pick up chemical signals via their smell and taste cells. These special sensory cells can be found all over the body and are mainly concentrated on the head or on the antennae of the snails.

First and foremost, there are different herbs that have a repellent effect, because the essential oils often smell very intense. But a few types of vegetables and ornamental plants can also chase the snails out of the garden bed. If you grow a lot of such plants in the garden, the little creatures will find little food and will hopefully withdraw from the beds.

The following herbs and medicinal plants have a slug-deterrent effect and are not consumed themselves.

• wild garlic (Allium ursinum)
• Southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum)
• Real chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)
• real dost (Origanum vulgare)
• real lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
• garden cress (Lepidium sativum)
• cucumber herb/borage (Borago officinalis)
• curry herb (Helichrysum italicum)
• Nasturtium (tropaeolum)
• rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
• chives (Allium schoenoprasum)
• thyme (thymus)
• savory (Satureja)
• hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
• lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

With these herbs, there should hardly be any problems in connection with snail feeding. In addition, you can always enjoy the pleasant smell and delicious taste of the herbs.

Also the intense smell of garlic (Allium sativum) and onions (Allium cepa) sometimes has a deterrent effect on snails - how strong this effect is, however, is described differently. In any case, these leeks (Allioideae) are avoided and not eaten. So you can plant such plants at the edges of the beds and also between the rows to spoil the appetite of the snails. Besides, there are a few more Vegetables that snails don't like.

tip: In addition to the deterrent plants, it is important to know which plants are eaten by snails. We therefore answer the question "What do snails eat?" for her.

Plant decoction against snails

Some plant manure can also repel snails through their smell and are extremely easy to make. To do this, you take coarsely chopped plant parts and let them ferment in water for a few days to weeks to get liquid manure. When this is ready, you can spray the affected plant with diluted manure or water the plants in the beds with it.

Manure and plant teas from the following plants have a snail-repellent effect:

• begonias (begonia)
• ivy (Hedera helix)
• ferns
• elder (Sambucus)
• lavender (lavender)
• liverwort (Marchantiophyta)
• moss
• rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum)
• yarrow (Achillea)
• Black Currants (Ribes)
• Pinecone (abies)
• tomato (Solanum lycopersicum): The at Cutting out tomatoes resulting shoots are ideal.
• vermouth (Artemisia absinthium)

Not only can these plants be processed into manure, they can also be spread as a layer of mulch around the endangered plants, creating a deterrent barrier. Since snails do not like to climb over rough and dry areas, materials such as dry lawn clippings, straw, rock dust or sand are also recommended for such barriers.

Tip: In addition to plant broths, manure and teas can also be made from compost to use in the fight against snails.

Other methods of combating snails

Unfortunately, a selection of snail-repelling plants is sometimes not enough snail control. You will have to use other control methods, especially if there is high snail pressure, to drive the small animals out of the garden and get rid of them completely, for example slug pellets.

With our Plantura organic slug pellets you can fight slugs effectively and reliably, for example. Thanks to the highly concentrated power ingredient with iron-III-phosphate, our slug pellets offer optimal protection and are also rainproof. After ingestion, the slugs retreat to their hiding places without the formation of slime and die there unnoticed. The naturally occurring active ingredient is gentle on pets and beneficial insects.

Another way to combat it is to bait with particularly desirable plants. These include besides lupine (lupinus) and delphinium (delphinium) also the easy-care ones marigolds (tagetes). Snails clearly prefer them to other plants and quickly eat them up completely. Sow or plant marigolds in lonely garden corners, the voracious mollusks migrate there and hopefully leave vegetable beds unmolested.

Mechanical barriers like snail fences along a raised bed are not overcome as snails cannot climb over the angled side. Individual, particularly endangered plants can also be protected with such snail fences.

tip: More to protect against Snails in the raised bed Find out in our special article.

But there are other methods to combat snails such as for example Home remedies for snails, which are good to help in the fight against slugs. There are also other biological and chemical strategies to combat slugswith which good results can be obtained. A special kind of pest control is the use of Ducks versus snails. You can read about the husbandry requirements of ducks and how they can be used in the garden.

you want to know which vegetables snails don't like? You can find the answer in our special article.