Sage is often found on the long list of effective remedies against voracious snails. The herb plant does not repel these pests on its own; You can find out here how sage proves to tip the scales.
How does sage protect against slugs in the garden?
Sage can keep snails at bay in your garden by using the plant as a bed border. The essential oils in sage keep slugs away and make them less likely to attack neighboring plants.
Aromatic protective barrier keeps snails at a distance
The high content of essential oils makes sage a popular seasoning and medicinal plant. What the human connoisseur likes in terms of taste and aroma keeps slugs away. Troubled hobby gardeners use the sub-shrubs, which are up to 90 centimeters high, as a protective wall for their useful and ornamental plants by planting sage as a bed border.
Ideally, you should grow the young plants by sowing them on the windowsill from the end of March. At a temperature of 18 to 22 degrees, germination begins within 7-21 days. The sage younglings are planted out from mid-May at a distance of 30 centimeters. Alternatively, sow the sage seeds directly into the bed as soon as the temperatures are more than 10 degrees Celsius from the beginning of May.
Clever mulching intensifies deterrence
Due to its Mediterranean origins, sage prefers calcareous, well-drained soil. A mulch layer of sharp chippings is therefore very welcome for the herb bush. At the same time, the sharp material acts as a traveling barrier against insatiable snails. Alternatively, a layer of mulch made from coarse sawdust stops the creeping pests. The much-vaunted coffee grounds are unsuitable as a barrier strip under sage because they lower the pH value.
These plants protect sage from snail damage
As an immediate plant neighbor, sage wraps garden plants favored by snails in a protective cloud of scent. Thus, the Mediterranean herbal plant acts as a botanical bodyguard when the slimy invasion of the night approaches. When mixed with the following ornamental and useful plants, sage fulfills this task brilliantly in a sunny location:
- Field and leaf lettuce
- Fennel
- Bluebells
- Mallows
- Chrysanthemums
- Sedum
Tips & Tricks
Sage is not just a deterrent against snails. It has been convincingly proven that roses with sage underplanting are much less likely to be affected by aphids.
