Is there a reasonably successful, poison free way to stop slugs and snails in a backyard garden?

Why would you want to get rid of snails, they’re so slow and cute (:

EDIT: Okay- I see that you tried my Grandma’s idea. Once in desperation I did put a perimeter of rock salt around a veggie bed. However It was not within 2 feet of any plants and am not sure what the effects would have been on the soil.

My grandmother used to put out pie tins of beer. It seemed to work. they were attracted to it and drowned. Seems a waste of beer though. On the other hand the slugs and snails died happy.

One of my girlfriends would fill a glass half full with water then bury it half way in the flower bed. She swore it worked but I have no idea really.

I was going to come in here and say put up a rock salt perimeter, too.

Then it hit me: Is there a way to snare the snails, at least, and sell them to restaurants? Are they that big? The slugs, I don’t know. Would a bait shop buy them?

It’s hard times. If there’s some money to be made…

Bury an opened can in the ground so the top is flush with the level of the soil. Fill it halfway with beer. Slugs crawl in and drown.

Or try diatomaeceous earth.

Gotta go with PupnTaco here, my old man swore by beer.

Diatomaceous earth perimeters around my hostas keep those nasty slugs (and ants as well) at bay. I got mine from a swimming pool chemical dealer, as some pool filters use DE instead of sand. They’d probably sell you a few pounds for a reasonable price if you tell them what you are using it for, so you wouldn’t have to buy a whole fifty pound bag.

I’ve tried the shallow pans of beer with limited success, maybe the slugs in my neighborhood have been to AA and have sworn off beer, who knows?

Turtles. :)

@delirium I used to have a turtle and it loved snails. I had forgotten all about that. GA!

My mother used to give me an empty mayonnaise jar, and then would pay me a dollar if I brought it back full of snails and/or slugs. She then filled it with rubbing alcohol, put the lid on it, and put it in the garbage can.

Otherwise, geese do an excellent job of controlling slugs, snails and bugs as well as weeds (hence they are called “weeder geese”). They have the advantage that the diet makes them nice and fat so you can have a proper Dickensian Christmas feast. While still alive they also make excellent watch dogs and burglar alarms combined in one entity.

Unfortunately, they make a large amount of noise, bite your friends when they visit your garden, and are incapable of telling the difference between a weed and a plant.

So small children, empty jars and cash money may be your best bet.

@Darwin where does one buy (or maybe rent) small children? :-)

@evelyns_pet_zebra: I used to have some you could have for the cost of food, but they grew. Have you tried looking in your neighbors’ houses? Or even better, go to the nearest school yard and tempt them to come with you by offering them candy.

Or maybe not.

you might try introducing predator insects to your garden area. My husband had a problem with some sort of bug on his plants and he brought in a bunch of ladybugs that liked eating the bug. It worked very good for him.

You should corral them, train them, and enter them in the Olympic Slug Dressage competition. If they win, you won’t care how many baby vegies they eat!

Chickens love slugs.

Ducks are fantastic slug eaters.

I have used Sluggo: www.pestproducts.com/sluggo.htm

It is nontoxic and nonchemical-based (ie, not a poison). It has worked pretty well for me. My local garden supply store carries it.

I would use diatomatious earth sprinkled throughout the garden. I guess it would be comparable to walking around bare foot on broken glass.

theyre supposed to not like green tea.
just brew some really strong green tea and water your plants with it for a few days.
it will have no effects on your plants and the slugs will hate it.

@fullOFuselessINFO Have you tried this green tea thing yourself? I need to get rid of these buggers too, but i don’t want to use anything toxic to my cats.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. we seem to have had some success – three days with only 1 slug sighting! The eggs seem to hatch in 2 weeks, so we may get another wave, but so far it seems that:

1) beer is effective in catching a few
2) copper tape doesn’t seem to do much
3) Diatomaceous may well be helpful, I will keep using this
4) going out 3 times a night and squishing them is very effective
5) clearing away any nearby tall grass and fallen leaves is a good way to clear eggs and hiding places
6) putting a board or two on the ground gives slugs a place to hide from the heat of the day – then you can squish them
7) I never tried children, turtles, ducks or chickens, but appreciate the ideas
8) didn’t yet try green tea, but will keep that in mind in case I get hit again

Sincere thanks to all