Sunday Gardening: Pest Control

Today was a clear-skied, eighteen-degree day. I got out in the garden to do some overdue weeding, and to (hopefully) resolve my painful snail issue.

Messy garden bed - before and after.

Here is my rocket and onions. They’re growing wild, as are the weeds. I painstakingly pulled each. and. every. weed out, ensuring the tiny bulbs came out with them. One challenge was the onions

My beloved strawberry plants welcomed the cooler weather with some growth, however, they’ve been a divine snack for snails and slugs. I tried an organic-based chilli and garlic pest spray to no avail. Snails were becoming a real issue.

Strawberry plant close up

Some popular methods for controlling snails include laying broken egg shells in garden beds, putting a container of flat beer near plants, or laying salt around. Egg shells are ineffective, meanwhile the other two methods kill the snails. Although I’m at war with snails, I don’t want to kill them.

Hence, I got to searching natural, permaculture orientated pest-control and found that thyme and mint repel snails. I placed my Apple Mint, Chocolate Mint, Spearmint, Moroccan Mint, and Vietnamese Mint alongside lemon thyme in pots around by strawberries. Additionally, coffee grinds are meant to rid snails due to their high caffeine content. It's also a great way of recycling coffee grinds. Hopefully, these methods. I’ll find out tonight when the snails attack.

It just goes to show that people don’t need harmful, synthetic chemicals in your gardens.

Mint and Thyme pots sorrounding strawberries

As this is a new hobby, I’m no green thumb yet. Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a yard and so I do the best I can with pots and garden beds. Please feel free to share your gardening posts with me!

Rocket, Spinache and Chives growing in other terracotta pots.