On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 12:00:13 GMT, Bry
wrote:

Currently, thanks to both the weather, types of plants in my garden and
partly the neighbours ambivalent attitude to snails... My garden is
swarming with them. And, I can't seem to cut the numbers down either.

My only real success has been going around with a bucket collecting
them. I also tried copper wire around the base of some trees as I head
they won't cross copper, well they seem to still be getting over the
wire anyway. Perhaps I need thicker wire? I also have this snail killer
that aparently doesn't cause bio accumulation, but I haven't found a
single dead snails where I put it down (although I don't find so much
dammage from them when it's around plants).

I'm getting quite desperate as they have stripped about 5 small plants
I really liked of all foliage and killed them, and they're fast turning
my three very hard to find white wisteria vines (allready slightly
dammaged from the heat wave) in to expencive salad...

So, if anyone has some suggestions (even really strange ones...) please
share them,

Just keep up with the bucket method.
I've found this makes a very serious dent in the population, though it
takes a week or so of poking round the borders at night before you
start to notice a real fall-off in snail ( and slug ) damage.
Thereafter, once a week seems to keep on top of the problem.

I've not found anything that will effectively deter them... from
eggshells to grit, and poisoning the buggers just adds to the problem
in the long term.

You could try putting in a few sacrificial plants.. this can draw the
snails off your prized specimens. Providing some shelter is another
good bet...this will also encourage predators such as ground
beetles... curved tiles are excellent for this. If you lift the tiles
from time to time you can pick up the slugs and snails that have taken
refuge there.

Apart from that, take steps to encourage more predators into your
garden.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk