How to Naturally Get Rid of Snails in Your Garden

Snails, while harmless to humans, are not so gentle with beloved garden plants. They like to chew through leaves, which is not only unsightly but has the potential to kill the plant. 

The good news is, there are plenty of natural ways to control snails that are terrorizing your garden without turning to toxic chemicals to do the job.

We share our best tricks and tips in this post!

Layer the Gravel

Snails don’t like crawling over jagged materials, such as gravel or tiny landscaping pebbles. The hard, jagged edges cut their soft bodies, so they avoid it. 

Plus, gravel and river rocks enhance your landscape and help plants retain moisture.

Get Down with the Serpents

You might not want to hear this, but garter snakes are awesome garden predators that love to nosh on snails and other plant-destroying pests. Garter snakes are harmless and not poisonous, so there’s nothing to fear!

Make your garden snake-friendly by creating a snake shelter for legless friends to hide. This could be as simple as a piece of wood or a stump. 

Make sure there is a water source, like a ground-level birdbath, after all, devouring snails is thirsty work!

Offer the Snails a Beer

That’s right- snails love beer! Leave a shallow pan of beer out in your garden overnight, and in the morning you’ll see that snails are trapped in the pan.

Make sure to replace the beer every few days, as stale beer loses its effectiveness.

Create a Moisture Trap

If wasting an ice-cold beer on your garden nemesis makes you cringe, then try a moisture trap. Snails love damp, cool places more than anything (except your yummy plants, of course!). 

Sprinkle water over a spot on the ground and place a wooden board or piece of carpet on top of the moist ground overnight. In the morning, you’ll see snails congregating on the object, making it easy to dispose of them.