Content
- How to protect your raised bed against snails
- Plan snail protection already during the construction of the raised bed
- No chance for snails in the raised bed
- Beware of overhanging shoots and tendrils
- Tips
The raised bed makes snails easier to keep away
How to protect your raised bed against snails
The voracious nudibranches clean whole rows of lettuce (and freshly planted young plants ...) completely bald within a very short time and cause so much damage. Although slug infestations in raised beds are less likely than on beds close to the ground, they are not impossible - the animals have no problem creeping up the vertical walls to get the hoped-for fresh green fodder.
Plan snail protection already during the construction of the raised bed
For this reason, you should keep the climbing artist by the construction of a snail-unfriendly raised bed away. When constructing, make sure that the flower box is getting bigger and bigger at the top - that is, it has a conical shape. This makes it very difficult for the animals to raise. You can achieve such a shape not only in wood, but also in stone or plastic beds. In addition to the conical shape, snails life is made difficult by overlapping wooden boards (or plastic panels ...) designed wall surfaces, because these edged obstacles can not or only with great luck overcome the pests. Around the raised bed you also mulch the ground with sharp-edged wood chippings - these are also avoided.
No chance for snails in the raised bed
Otherwise, make sure your raised bed by strained around the bed copper bands and / or a classic snail lock safe from the voracious mollusks. As a screw lock is sufficient an angled sheet, which protrudes under the projecting Beetrand. In addition, as it may happen that there are snail eggs on purchased seedlings or in the potting soil or in the compost, you should always have an environmentally friendly slug pellet on an iron-III basis. Usually, a one-time treatment of the plants in the spring is enough to keep the rest of the garden season quiet from the annoying snails.
Beware of overhanging shoots and tendrils
Caution is advised in all overhanging plants in the raised bed: tendrils nasturtium, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. on the ground, even the best snail defense is useless. In this case, the animals simply use the overlong shoots of the plants to reach the raised bed. So keep such overlong shoots short, tie them up and / or let the plants grow up on a trellis.
Tips
Mowing with straw or similar materials not only keeps the soil in the raised bed longer moist, but keeps annoying snails away - they do not like the sharp edges and can not overcome them.