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How are your sunflowers coming along? Ours went out in the garden a couple of weeks ago. The tallest one is up to 45cm on our sunflower height chart and mostly they’re doing well – working their way up the wall but not yet taller than Little. One however has been munched. The girls were horrified! Who had done such a thing? Pulling some ivy off the wall this weekend we found our answer: 14 snails, sat biding their time, waiting for the feasting to begin. I am such a hippy, harmony-promoting gardener that I can’t bring myself to squash them, so they are flung over the back wall (into an alleyway, not someone else’s garden!) – which of course only delays the munching.
Before the snails went for the high jump, we put them through their paces in a Snail Race.
On Your Marks....
This gave the girls the opportunity to look at the snails up close and ask lots of questions about their shells, slime and ‘sticky out bits’. Snail World had all the answers. We talked about our responsibilty to animals and both girls were very careful when handling the snails. One thing we did discover was that snails just don’t understand the concept of keeping in your own lane – so if you fancy trying this I’d suggest more of a ‘bull’s eye’ circular race track, starting all the snails in the centre and seeing which makes it to the circumference first.
Victory to Snail #1
What do you do when you find snails, or slugs, in your garden? Have you got any alternative solutions to stop them munching?
I wish we had a solution to them all, but alas we dont. They totally ate our cauli’s and cabbages last year and did untold damage. Love the idea of a race, but the boys just stamp on them now!
That looks like some good outdoor fun!!
I’ve seen something like this down with snails on a piece of paper with some blobs of paint on it. As the snails move through the paint they become artists… not completely sure about the ethics of it, but probably quite fun for kids!
Hello,
I have a hobby gardening site and have nine natural ways to get rid of snails which may interest you. There are photos and simple instructions for each solution.
https://www.sustainable-gardening-tips.com/garden-snails.html
There are many different ideas around and some work better than others depending on your climate and the design of your garden to name just a couple. At this time of year you will need to have some clever ways to stop them.
I really don’t like commercial baits as they can cause death and / or illness in other innocent pets, birds and animals.
Please have a look and choose from the nine options and try to eliminate them sustainably.
Kind regards
Robyn
(Gardener and Permaculturist)
Hi,
You have a really nice blog. Enjoyed coming by.
My girls and I enjoyed keeping a snail as a pet this past spring. Your post made me think of it.
Best,
Hester Jane (FunInTheMaking.net)
What ever you do, don’t squash the snails! They don’t need to have a partner to reproduce, so that just makes more when they are squished open!