Experience has taught gardeners that certain plants are less susceptible to attack by slugs and snails than others. While delphiniums, dahlias and French marigolds (Tagetes patula) are all favorite foods, snails do not like hairy-leaved and strongly aromatic plants such as lavender (Lavandula), sage (Salvia officinalis), catmint (Nepeta) or cranesbill (Geranium).
For a sunny, snail-free bed, plant these and other varieties that snails dislike, including lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), rock rose (Helianthemum), Gaillardia, golden rod (Solidago), phlox, day lilies (Hemerocallis), speedwell (Veronica), sedums and obedient plant (Physostegia). Summer flowering nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus), Portulaca and some varieties of carnations (Dianthus) are also given a wide berth by hungry snails.
Snail-resistant perennials and summer bedding plants specifically aimed at the snail-plagued gardener are available from nurseries and garden centres, although you may have to ask for them.
Many perennials, such as the poisonous monkshood (Aconitum), are eaten by snails only as young seedlings, but not when they are mature plants. Try using a cut-down plastic bottle as a collar around young plants to protect them.
The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc./GID
Snails do not like aromatic flowers, such as lavender.
