univited guests to the garden party
In case you wanted to know… the herb box is doing quite well. So well, in fact, that I spent a bit of time this weekend looking up intriguing mint recipes in order to hand the insanity that is the mint plant!
But if you look closely, you might see a small addition to the box. It’s a slight modification made to keep some not-so-welcome guests out of feasting on the goodness inside.
Yep… that’s shiny new copper all along the edges of the box! And do you know why it’s there? Because just 4 short days after planting all of my herbs, all of the plants were pretty much decimated thanks to a giant SNAIL PARTY!
And because I wanted a long-term solution instead of just sprinkling snail bait around the planter every other day, I googled around and found that copper was a natural repellant for these slimy guys.
Funny thing (well, not HAHA funny, but ironically funny) is that I found about 16 snail shells in my herb box the next week. Empty shells. Guess no one told these guys that copper was hazerdous to their health?
I’ve only found 1-2 shells a week no, and my herbs are growing out of control, so I guess I’m doing something right!
(p.s. can’t wait to share a deliciously refreshing mint drink recipe with you tomorrow! So simple and so yummy!)
6 Comments
Jen @ Living a Brighter Life
What an awesome tidbit!! I’m going to have to put some copper in our front flower beds as we have a snail problem too! We’ve used snail bait in the past but then I have a fear that the dog will get it! Copper is a great solution!
serena
Wow, I didn’t know that about snails! So interesting. I got mint in my CSA pick-up last week and put together a good fava bean (also CSA) and mint dish – yum! Looking forward to your drink recipe! :)
Catherine
Thanks for this info. I’m having a HUGE snail problem. I was going to use bait but I don’t want our dog getting into it.
Liz
I had no idea that copper works as a snail repellant!! *must remember this fact*
talda
oh perfect! thanks for the tip. i’ll have to pass this on to my mom who’s been battling snails since she started her garden up. this will do wonders for her garden!
Michelle
Oddly I’ve never had any snail issues in our sad little garden box – perhaps they just moved along to the next house as our garden certainly leaves much to be desired. I will say our mint is also out of control! I’m not complaining though as the smell is DIVINE. Can’t wait for you to share your mint recipes!