If you’re looking for a solution on how to keep rolly pollies out of garden, you’re not alone. These small crustaceans, also known as pill bugs or woodlice, can become a nuisance when they munch on tender seedlings and decaying plant matter. To protect your garden from rolly pollies, focus on reducing excess moisture and removing their preferred hiding spots among decaying matter.
While they play a beneficial role in breaking down organic material, an overpopulation can lead to damaged young plants. The good news is that managing them relies on simple, consistent garden hygiene and a few strategic changes.
How To Keep Rolly Pollies Out Of Garden
A successful strategy for controlling rolly pollies involves making your garden less inviting to them. They thrive in damp, dark environments with plenty of decaying material to eat and shelter under. Your goal is to disrupt this ideal habitat.
This approach is often more effective and sustainable than reaching for harsh chemicals. By understanding what attracts them, you can implement long-term solutions that also benefit the overall health of your garden soil and plants.
Understanding Rolly Polly Behavior
Before you start any control methods, it helps to know what your dealing with. Rolly pollies are not insects; they are terrestrial crustaceans related to shrimp and crayfish. They breathe through gills, which require a moist environment to function. This is why you always find them in damp places.
They are primarily decomposers, feeding on decaying plant material like fallen leaves, dead grass, and rotting wood. However, when their preferred food is scarce, or populations are high, they may turn to living plant matter, particularly tender seedlings, stems, and fruits lying on the soil.
What Attracts Them To Your Garden
- Excess Moisture: Overwatered gardens, poor drainage, and leaky faucets create the perfect damp habitat.
- Organic Debris: Thick layers of mulch, piles of leaves, decaying wood, and dead plant matter offer both food and shelter.
- Dark, Cool Hiding Places: Under pots, stones, boards, and dense ground cover.
- Compacted Soil: This retains more moisture and limits air flow, creating a favorable environment.
Reduce Moisture And Improve Drainage
Since rolly pollies need constant moisture to survive, this is your most powerful tactic. Adjusting your watering habits and improving garden drainage can significantly reduce their numbers.
Start by evaluating how and when you water. Overhead watering in the evening leaves the soil surface wet for hours, inviting these pests. Instead, water your plants at the base during the early morning hours. This allows the soil surface to dry out during the day.
- Switch to drip irrigation or soaker hoses to deliver water directly to plant roots.
- Ensure your garden beds have proper drainage. If puddles form, consider raising the beds or amending the soil with compost to improve structure.
- Fix any leaky outdoor faucets or hoses promptly.
- Avoid overwatering. Let the top inch of soil dry out between watering sessions for established plants.
Eliminate Hiding Spots And Debris
Cleaning up your garden removes the shelter and food sources that make it a rolly polly paradise. A tidy garden is a less hospitable one for these critters.
Make a habit of regular garden maintenance. This doesn’t mean stripping your garden bare, but rather being mindful of where debris accumulates. Focus on areas close to the ground and against structures where moisture gets trapped.
- Remove fallen leaves, dead plant material, and rotting fruit from the soil surface regularly.
- Store firewood, lumber, and stones on racks away from garden beds, not directly on the soil.
- Keep compost bins sealed or located at a distance from your vegetable patch or seedling area.
- Prune low-hanging plant branches to increase air circulation and sunlight penetration to the soil.
- Pick up empty pots, trays, and other containers that can hold moisture and provide dark shelter.
Create Physical Barriers
Physical barriers can protect vulnerable plants, especially young seedlings that are most at risk. These methods prevent rolly pollies from reaching the plants they want to eat.
Barriers are a non-toxic, immediate solution for specific plants or beds. They work by creating a dry or rough surface that the pests are reluctant to cross. You can combine these with other methods for a strong defense.
Effective Barrier Materials
- Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade): Sprinkle a fine, dry ring around plants. The sharp microscopic edges deter soft-bodied pests. Reapply after rain or watering.
- Copper Tape: Adhesive copper tape around planters or raised beds creates a small electrical charge that deters them.
- Crushed Eggshells or Grit: A rough, dry barrier of crushed eggshells, horticultural grit, or even used coffee grounds can be uncomfortable for them to crawl over.
- Vaseline or Petroleum Jelly: Smearing a thick band around the stems of potted plants can act as a sticky barrier.
Use Natural Repellents And Traps
When habitat modification isn’t enough, you can employ natural repellents and simple traps. These methods help reduce the local population without harming the environment or beneficial insects.
Traps work by luring rolly pollies into a confined space where they can be removed. Repellents use scents or substances they dislike to encourage them to move elsewhere. Both are safe for use around children, pets, and wildlife when used as directed.
- Beer Trap: Bury a small container, like a yogurt cup, so the rim is level with the soil. Fill it halfway with cheap beer. The yeast attracts them, and they fall in and drown. Empty and refill every few days.
- Potato or Citrus Rind Trap: Place hollowed-out potato halves or orange peels face-down on the soil overnight. In the morning, collect the traps with the pests hiding inside and dispose of them far from the garden.
- Natural Repellent Spray: Create a spray with 1 quart of water, a few drops of dish soap, and a tablespoon of crushed garlic or chili powder. Spray around the base of plants to deter feeding.
Adjust Mulching Practices
Mulch is a double-edged sword in rolly polly management. While it conserves moisture and suppresses weeds, thick, moist mulch layers are an ideal habitat. The key is to use mulch strategically.
You don’t have to avoid mulch entirely. Instead, choose your materials carefully and apply them in a way that minimizes the damp, dark environment underneath. Allow the soil surface to breath and dry out occasionally.
- Use inorganic mulches like gravel or stone in problem areas, as they dry quickly.
- If using organic mulch (bark, straw), keep it a few inches away from plant stems and don’t layer it thicker than 2-3 inches.
- Let the soil dry out slightly before reapplying a fresh layer of mulch.
- Occasionally rake and turn your mulch to disrupt hiding colonies and promote drying.
Encourage Natural Predators
Nature provides its own pest control. By making your garden friendly to the animals that eat rolly pollies, you create a balanced ecosystem that keeps populations in check naturally.
Many common garden predators consider rolly pollies a tasty snack. Your goal is to provide these beneficial creatures with the shelter, water, and environment they need to thrive. A diverse garden is a resilient garden.
Beneficial Predators To Welcome
- Birds: Install bird feeders, bird baths, and native plants that provide shelter to attract birds like robins, starlings, and blackbirds.
- Frogs and Toads: A small, shallow water source and a damp, shady “toad abode” made from an overturned clay pot can invite these helpful amphibians.
- Ground Beetles: These nocturnal hunters thrive under permanent plantings and stones. Avoid disturbing their habitat unnecessarily.
- Centipedes: While they look alarming, larger centipedes are fierce predators of small soil pests.
When To Consider Insecticidal Soap
For severe infestations threatening significant plant loss, insecticidal soaps can be a low-toxicity option. These are contact sprays that must directly coat the pest to be effective, as they have no residual action.
Use this as a targeted, last resort rather than a broad-scale treatment. It’s crucial to apply it correctly to avoid harming your plants or the beneficial insects you want to keep. Always test the spray on a small part of the plant first and follow the label instructions precisely.
- Purchase a ready-to-use insecticidal soap or mix your own using a pure, mild liquid soap (not detergent).
- Apply in the early evening when rolly pollies are active and beneficial pollinators are less so.
- Spray directly onto the pests you see on plants, focusing on the soil line and undersides of leaves.
- Repeat applications may be necessary, but combine this with habitat changes for lasting control.
Long-Term Garden Management
Keeping rolly pollies at bay is an ongoing process, not a one-time task. Integrating these strategies into your regular garden routine will prevent future large-scale problems.
Consistency is more important than intensity. A weekly check for moisture levels and debris, combined with seasonal clean-ups, will maintain a garden environment that supports your plants without encouraging pest overpopulation. Remember, a few rolly pollies are normal and even helpful.
FAQ Section
What Home Remedy Keeps Rolly Pollies Away?
Several home remedies are effective. Diatomaceous earth, crushed eggshells, and coffee grounds create dry, abrasive barriers. Beer traps and potato traps lure and capture them. A simple spray of garlic or chili powder mixed with water and soap can also repel them from plants.
What Is A Natural Predator Of Pill Bugs?
Many garden creatures eat pill bugs. These include birds like robins and starlings, toads and frogs, ground beetles, and centipedes. Encouraging these predators by providing water, shelter, and avoiding broad-spectrum pesticides is a great natural control method.
Why Are There So Many Rolly Pollies In My Yard?
A large population usually indicates perfect conditions: abundant moisture from overwatering or poor drainage, and plenty of hiding spots under mulch, stones, wood piles, or plant debris. They are decomposers, so yards with lots of decaying organic matter will naturally support more of them.
Do Rolly Pollies Harm Garden Plants?
They primarily feed on decaying matter and are beneficial for soil health. However, in large numbers or when other food is scarce, they can damage young seedlings, soft stems, and fruits or vegetables touching damp soil. Mature, healthy plants are rarely affected.
Is It Bad To Have Pill Bugs In Soil?
Having some pill bugs in your soil is not bad; it’s actually a sign of active decomposition. They help break down organic material, returning nutrients to the soil. Problems only arise when their population explodes due to an overly damp and cluttered environment, leading them to nibble on living plants.