Snails and their no-shelled cousins, slugs, are a common problem in many gardens. Sometimes they’re imported with new plants; once introduced to the terrain, they are hard to eliminate. Getting rid of them without using poisons has been a quest for landscape designer and “old rose” collector Andrew Schulman for years. His solution, known to some gardeners, may come as a surprise.

Here are some of the key points from this video:

• Iris, daylily, and delphinium are just a few of the plants that  slugs and snails like to snack on.
• Look for ragged chew holes to identify slug and snail damage.
• You may also notice a slimy residue from them.
• Slugs and nails are nocturnal and do most of their feeding at night.
• You can use nontoxic deterrents that rely on iron as their main ingredient.
• A simpler home remedy is filling a shallow dish with beer.