Snailproof and hardy. Geraniums thrive where other plants suffer

The 2024 bedding and balcony planting season presented many gardeners with a challenge: slugs and snails were everywhere, ravaging countless beds. The damp, mild weather led to an explosion in their numbers. Many plants were completely eaten away and the hoped-for display of flowers failed to materialise. Those who chose geraniums for their patios, balconies and gardens were in luck. Unlike many other bedding and balcony plants, they survived the snail plague largely unscathed.

Slugs and snails are voracious pests that can do a lot of damage in a short time. They multiply rapidly in mild, wet weather such as that experienced in the spring and summer of 2024. A single snail can lay up to 500 eggs per season, causing their population to grow massively. A taste of what’s to come? As climate change makes winters warmer and wetter, snails are able to reproduce more easily. At the same time, there are fewer natural enemies such as toads, hedgehogs and slow worms that eat snails. As a result, there are more of them.

While snails often eat petunias, dahlias or sunflowers to the ground with their rasping tongues, geraniums are almost inedible to them. Although snails can hide under the dense foliage, the sturdy stems and thick, fleshy leaves are such a challenge that they prefer to seek out the tender young shoots of other plants. Some geraniums also have hairy leaves and stems or contain essential oils. These are further reasons for slugs and snails to avoid them.

You can easily combine different types of geraniums to create more variety in borders, window boxes or containers. There’s a huge variety of colours and shapes to choose from, so even a planting of just geraniums won’t look boring. Alternatively, plant these easy-care summer flowers with others such as lavender or herbs, which snails will also avoid. With proper care and the right location – sunny to semi-shade – geraniums and their companions will thrive and provide a rich display of flowers even in years when snails numbers are high.

Geraniums are not only resistant to slugs and snails, they are also very robust and hardy in other ways. With the right care, plant diseases and pests are rarely a problem for them. If they do suffer from fungal diseases, geranium rust or aphids, it’s usually due to poor care. With plenty of space, good potting compost, a warm, sunny location, regular fertilising and watering (but no standing water), geraniums will stay healthy and produce an abundance of long-lasting flowers from spring to autumn.