Snails - it has only rained for a few days and now the garden is crawling with them. Especially the asters seem to have done it to them. collect? That's not much fun when there's a plague of slugs…

Caterpillars and snails love asters

Asters - delicacies for snails

Snails are attracted to asters. Visibly like their mild taste. In the worst case, the snails eat the asters so much that the asters die. The danger is particularly great in spring, when the asters are still quite small. In the summer, a few feeding spots do not harm the aster.

Young plants are particularly at risk

If you sow your asters directly outdoors, you should protect the young plants as soon as possible - preferably when the first 2 leaves are visible. Even freshly planted, smaller asters that you have bought and planted should not be left unprotected in the garden. Unless you want to make snails a treat for the palate…

Natural protective measures that keep snails at bay

Various measures have a preventive effect against slug damage on asters. On the one hand there are natural barriers that you can build, for example in a circle around the asters. Everything that draws water from the snails has an effect here. These include, for example:

  • sand
  • stone flour
  • wood ash
  • spruce needles
  • lime

You should also water the asters in the morning rather than in the evening. It is also advisable to plant hardy varieties and species that are less attractive to snails, such as borage asters. On top of that, planting vegetation around the asters that snails don't like will help. This includes:

  • onions
  • garlic
  • lavender
  • rosemary
  • thyme
  • oregano

Further measures against the snail plague

If the natural protective measures do not help, tougher measures must be taken. Here are the most common ideas:

  • Set up beer traps
  • Put up snail fences
  • late evening collection (then they are on the move)
  • Find and collect sleeping places (wooden boards, plastic sheets, tall grass, large-leaved perennials).
  • Scatter slug pellets (7.49€) (causes quick death because the slug is dehydrated)

tips

Winter asters, also known as chrysanthemums, do not like snails. So you can do without protective measures here.

Category:

Vegetable garden