We at Orange County Farm Supply Gazette wish you all a very happy — and safe — Independence Day!

Snails and slugs are a real challenge to a gardener's patience, but there are many choices for dealing with them which you might not have been aware of. The good news is that many of these solutions to the snail & slug problem are non-toxic!

Remember the IPM (Integrated Pest Management) approach of starting with the least toxic?
Here are some ideas:

1. Hand-pick and dispose of them by your choice of methods. These would include stomping them, throwing them in the street, dropping them in a bucket of salt water, and so forth!
2. Coax them out of the flowerbed by laying a flat board on the ground. They will crawl under it to get away from the heat of the sun, then you just swish them off into the trash.
3. Put out a saucer of stale beer- They are attracted to the scent of it and will crawl in and drown!
4.Apply a copper band around flower pots. Snails cannot tolerate copper and they will not cross it. These are available commercially, or you can make your own.
5. Put down scratchy things (snails don't like doing the equivalent of walking across broken glass in bare feet). Finely crushed eggshells and diatomaceous earth (this will need replacing if it gets wet) work well.
6. Get friendly with the larger neighborhood predators. Possums, ducks, turtles, tortoises, rats, some birds, and snakes (and even my former neighbor's springer spaniel) will prey on snails and slugs.
7. Try snails that like other snails for dinner. The predatory snail Rumina decollata (decollate snai)l will feed on young snails and may be worth a try but also may nibble on young plants on occasion . It takes a little time to get them established but many people have been pleased with the results.
8. Don't forget the predacious beetle Calosma: it also feeds on snails and slugs.
9. If these fail, try a pet-safe snail bait such as Sluggo; for a really bad snail and slug problem, use Deadline Slug & Snail Killer (this is not pet-safe).

Use baits weekly for at least three weeks to get all generations.

A word of caution if you have been using a pelleted form of snail bait- it can be dangerous around pets as it looks like food to them. The finer granule type is much safer - but please be careful and read the label & use as directed.

If your irises don't bloom, they're either growing in too much shade or they need dividing.

After they have been in the ground for three or four years, they become crowded. Their roots intertwine, the clumps rise ever higher out of the ground, and if they're not divided they'll stop blooming. In cooler areas divide irises as soon as flowering is finished. In very warm areas, wait until October. Sometimes, in old gardens, irises have been neglected for years and it's a big job to divide them, so do the ones in the worst shape first, in case you can't get to them all at once.

How to Divide Irises

·With a garden fork dig up an entire clump, shake off excess soil from the roots, then squirt it with the hose to wash all soil from the rhizomes. (A rhizome is a thickened stem that grows horizontally underground or on the surface of the ground.)

·Working with a sharp knife from the outside of the clump, cut vigorous, healthy divisions. Each division for planting should have one fan of leaves, a section of young, healthy rhizome approximately 2 to 6 inches long, and some roots coming out the bottom. It may also have one or two new growth buds, or eyes, bulging out on the sides.

·Discard the old woody center of the clump that has no leaves; anything that is diseased, rotted or has been attacked by pests; any thin or spindly growth; and all immature rhizomes with no leaves.

·Cut off the tops of the fans at a neat right angle, with the center point 4 inches higher and the sides 2 to 3 inches higher than the rhizome.

·Cut back the roots by about one-third, dip the cut ends of the rhizomes in a fungicide, such as captan, and allow them to dry in the sun for two or three hours.

·Dig up the bed or prepare individual planting areas, in full sun in cooler areas or where there's six hours of sun in warmer areas. Work in compost and bone meal.

·Replant the rhizomes on the same day, three to a clump, with the leaves pointing out from the center. Irises keep growing in the direction of each fan of leaves. On hillsides plant them with the bare rhizomes pointing downhill and the part with the leaves pointing uphill.

·For each rhizome use a trowel or a small spade to dig a hole approximately 4 inches deep and 8 inches wide. Make an elongated mound in the planting hole. Arrange the roots over the mound with the rhizome resting on top so that the top of the rhizome is level with the surrounding soil. If the roots bend on the bottom dig the hole deeper. Cover the roots with soil and press it down firmly with your hands. When you're finished the top of the rhizome should still be level with the surface of the soil.

·Water the bed thoroughly after planting and keep it damp, but not soggy, until the plants are rooted.