Valerie Easton from the Seattle times answers the question, “Do copper barriers repel snails?” while Angela proves that it’s not the copper colour that repels but may instead be the copper itself.
There are so many remedies for controlling/ managing/ destroying snails that It can sometimes become too overwhelming and we throw our hands up in despair reaching for the David Gray snail pellets. I’ve heard theories on beer, ashes, sawdust, scaresnails (they’re the dead ones you leave lying next to your plants to strike fear into the very heart of any courageous snail that thinks they have a chance of a decent meal).
Apart from my agapanthus, alyogyne and some of my bromeliads, the only plants that snails inevitably head for in my garden are any seedlings. I try to keep snails from these as they would decimate them overnight and I’ve found the best prevention is to use a ring around the seedling of any course material, be it ashes or sawdust or shell grit. Anything that a snail would find uncomfortable moving across has always worked for me. Try it. See if it’s just another remedy.
