A beer trap is considered a good way to get rid of snails. But it usually causes more harm than good. It's better to use other home remedies.
Both garden owners, who speak from experience, and experts attest to the effectiveness of the beer trap: a container with yeast-containing beer placed in the bed magically attracts snails. And as if by magic, the potty fills up with animals that can easily be disposed of. And that's exactly where the main problem lies, because not only snails from nearby make their way to the tempting source of scent, but also those from the neighbor's garden and beyond. And everyone passes by your flowers or vegetable plants, which are a welcome snack. There are other reasons that speak against installing a beer trap, but fortunately there are also good home remedy alternatives.
The beer trap can also attract wasps, hornets and rats
Not only snails, other garden inhabitants also find the smell of beer attractive. It doesn't matter whether it is a self-made construct or a sophisticated finished product. Comparatively harmless, but annoying: wasps and hornets also fly on beer, and the number of these animals increases, especially in summer. However, bees, spiders and other beneficial insects can also fall into the beer.
It becomes problematic when rats come along as omnivores and then feel at home in the garden. If these animals come during the day, you are even obliged to inform the health or public order office.
You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter from our partner 24garten.de.
Coffee grounds and other home remedies for snails
If you want to fight snails in an environmentally friendly way, you can use the following home remedies and methods:
Attracting and collecting them is very effective: Place boards, larger leaves or upturned clay flower pots on the ground in the garden, under which you can then collect the animals every day - at least once in the morning.
Place deterrent plants in and around vegetable beds. Chamomile, savory and garlic are considered such. Fern, lavender, sage and wormwood can also be used as a protective barrier in the form of tea or manure.
Water especially in the morning so that the nocturnal animals have difficulty making progress on dry ground from the evening onwards.
Scatter sawdust, stone dust or quicklime in a wide strip around the plants.
Coffee grounds are considered one of the few effective home remedies. It is also sprinkled around the plants to be protected - but it makes the soil more acidic by lowering the pH value, which not every plant can tolerate.
When it comes to fighting snails in the garden, the rule is usually “a lot helps a lot”: the stubborn animals put hobby gardeners to the test. Therefore, do not just choose one method to combat them, but combine several to have a better chance of success.