skip to main content

Ants, Ants, Ants

Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden

11 years ago

I have a large old yard with a huge ant problem. I have countless numbers of hills all through this yard and in my flower beds. I have tried everything I can find on the market and many home remedies to no avail. Any ideas I have not heard of that are effective would be greatly appreciated. I have pets and would prefer something not toxic to animals and plants as many are in my flower beds.

Ginny

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

jean001a
11 years ago
Ants are a problem when indoors. Outdoors, they're useful as predators and scavengers.

Some folks discourages individual hills by pouring hot water on them.
freki
11 years ago
liquid ant bait works for me.

I only kill them when they nest in roots or set up aphid ranches.
Related Discussions
Ants, Ants, Ants-eating my cats & eggs?
Q
Comments (7)
Thanks to all responses. I am brand new on the Butterfly Garden Forum, so please bear with me while I learn the system. Thanks to runmead & christie for the Terro suggestion. I will look for it. Also like the Gain detergent idea from organic kitten--sounds like it's worth a try also. Elisabeth: Great input and good info on the Senna. I occasionally do raise some of the eggs to chrysalis/butterflies. I make butterfly garden "hatching jars" for the children at my grandson's school. WE do butterfly garden walks (my garden) during the spring. My sennas and casias are also covered with eggs & cats. I really need to prune, in prep. for the storms heading our way, but can't do it while there are so many new babies. Rhizo 1: My problem ants are mostly very tiny or little larger black ones. No fire ants on my host plants. Siam: My best nectar plants are the fire bush, jathropa, cosmos (re-seeds itself every year and can reach a height of 8+ feet during the summer), native floss flower (ageratum?)-- please excuse my lack of proper names--spanish needle, & pentas. Host plants: scarlet milkweek, several varities of the passion vine--one a native that comes up by itself in my garden, key lime & calamondin, cassias & sennas. I also plant parsley, dill & rue. Oh yes, I have a large Dutchman's Pipe that the Gold rimmed swollowtail loves. Maybe some spider problems on this. During our winter/spring growing season I plant nasturshims and have collards in my vegetable garden. I would be interested in what you grow and what butterflies we might have in common. Thanks again to all responses.
...See More
Ants, Ants, and more Ants
Q
Comments (3)
It might not be the ants. Is your grass dying? If so, how is it? In spots? in patches? You said you planted... meaning you put grass seed down? or sod? If you planted by seed, did you cover it with straw (or other covering), how much have you been watering it? In the first few weeks of a newly seeded lawn, watering is essential. The best time to plant a new lawn is in the fall, when the blades of grass do not have to compete with weeds, or the summer heat, so if its been very hot in your area that could be the problem too.
...See More
ants, ants, ants!!!!
Q
Comments (10)
Then we had an outside company come and spray 3 times in three months and they won't go away. ==>>> the ants .. or the company ... did they not guarantee their work??? did they happen to ID them??? .. and if not.. it makes one wonder .... you might want to invest in hiring another company ... who will guarantee their work ... and solve your problem ... in every project.. there does come a time.. when checkbook resolution is the only option.. if for no other reason.. peace of mind ... and frankly.. when i found them crawling ON ME ... it would be the time to do such ... good luck ken ps: i use the type at the link when they invade in spring [various versions per manufacturer] ... its the type rhiz is talking about ... over a couple days... i watch their paths ... and place them in places i know they travel.. and usually within a week.. they are gone.. until the next horde moves in [i figure.. a new nest???] .. lol .. and as noted.. the scouts leave a trail ... for others to follow ... so your repeated.. frequent washing.. kinda obscures the fact that the scout has to report back and his scent followed back by the workers.. who will bring the goo back to the hive .... [ i place some under the stove.. near the sink.. and near the toaster ... all food sources IMHO] Here is a link that might be useful: link
...See More
ants, ants and more ants - kill 'em or leave 'em
Q
Comments (6)
Hi Marnie, What can I say like well Ants are everywhere, and while they are there at least you know you dont have termites, but they are a jolly nuisance all the same. And yes I know what it is like to see them come into your house by the thousands go up the wall and walk all around your cornices to come down again and go out through the front of your house somewhere, beats me why they didn't walk over the garden to the front, or under the house, it would have been a lot quicker. Now we are talking brand new house here 5 years ago, hubby and I built it ourselves and while we were building it I said to hubby look at all those ants coming up the bearers, then when we put the joists in same thing, by time we put the frame up the wall studs were alive with the blighters so you can imagine our surprise one day when we go to the block to start work to find none there at all, why because it rained. And I have noticed over the past few years since we have lived here, when it is real dry they come in looking for water, I used to find them in the bath, sinks and even in the toilet cisten, then when it rained really heavy the same thing happened. This year we have had none so far, in the dry or wet but that could be because I have put down those Bait Stations where they go in and take some of it back to the nest and feed Her Majesty and she dies. About two months ago I layed the Bait Stations again when I seen them come in and I seen them go but they have not returned.I cant believe it as there are thousands in the Garden and if you can put up with them out there, let them be after all its their back yard too. But in the house well thats a different matter and I think its best they are not there.....Cheers..MM.
...See More
Kimmsr
11 years ago
The commercial pest control companies make a lot of money telling people they can solve your ant problem and they don't. So if the powerful poisons they have available that you cannot get will not control ants nothing you can buy in a store will either, in reality.
As Jean stated if the ants are inside your house they need to be redirected, but if outside (where they belong) they are doing what ants have been doing for eons, cleaning up our planet for us.
If you feel there are too many nests then look closely at why that might be. There needs to be enough food, moisture, and good living conditions for them to nest, remove any one of those three and the ants will leaves for a more suitable environment. Most usually the soil, where the ants nest is, is fairly dry and soaking the heck out of the soil will cause them to move.
Keep in mind that any poison strong enough to kill off ants is most likely not good for you and your pests to be exposed to.
jeanwedding. zone 6
11 years ago
I heard or readm that if you take -some of the ant hill from one and place it on another ---they will fight and kill each other....
Ever watch ants indoors "touch or bumping each other when passing???? I assume to see if they are "kinfolk????...LOL
I discovered this quite a while ago and noticed the outside ones do the same thing....
I watched them weeks ago on the kitchen countertop back splash ... I killed hundred by just smashing them..... day and night--they were relentless Plus used liquid Terro
on pieces of small thin cardboard......It took like 5 days --then they disappeared....
Kimmsr
11 years ago
If you have ants in your house they are there because a scout ant found a food and/or moisture source. Determine what that is and eliminate it and then move the ants back outside where they do belong.
Keep in mind that most of the poisons you can spray to keep any insect out of your house has the potential of causing you, and your family, healthy problems that may not be evident for 30 years. Most of those poisons can also cause someone with Asthma to have problems.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
Jean, the liquid Terro is really good stuff, isn't it?

Related Stories

PRODUCT PICKS Guest Picks: Let the Ants Come Marching In

By Jen L'Italien

Catch the decorating bug — or maybe even a whole colony of ’em — with accessories sporting cute versions of crawly critters

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING Bid Bad Garden Bugs Goodbye and Usher In the Good

By Matt Kilburn

Give ants their marching orders and send mosquitoes moseying, while creating a garden that draws pollinators and helpful eaters

GARDENING GUIDES Backyard Birds: Healthy Home Habitats for Northern Flickers

By Habitat Network

These colorful woodpeckers found across the U.S. and Canada love berries, seeds and ants and often nest in deep burrows in trees

HOUZZ TOURS My Houzz: From Dated to Dreamy in 3 Weeks

The results belie the speedy makeover of this 1940s Quebec home — which not even a colony of ants could derail

SHOWERS Turn Your Shower Niche Into a Design Star

By Becky Harris

Clear glass surrounds have raised the design bar for details such as shampoo and soap shelves. Here are 4 standouts

GARDENING GUIDES Invite Cellophane Bees to Your Garden by Providing Patches of Bare Soil

By Pollination Press LLC

Look for cellophane bees (Colletes) pollinating flowering trees and shrubs in U.S. gardens this spring

HOUZZ TOURS My Houzz: Midcentury Cool With a Killer View in Salt Lake City

An all-star cast of iconic vintage furnishings makes this Utah home period perfect through and through

VACATION HOMES Houzz Tour: Childhood Memories Shape a Lakeside Cottage

By Mitchell Parker

A Canadian man couldn’t salvage his grandfather’s cottage, but he keeps the family connection alive with a new structure in the same space

DECORATING GUIDES Wallpaper: The Bold and the Beautiful

By Becky Harris

FURNITURE Modern Icons: Vernor Panton's Cone Chairs

By Becky Harris

Have a heart — or even two or three. With these whimsical and attention-snagging seats, it just might be the more, the merrier

Sponsored

More Discussions

Blue Fescue is Not Blue?

4

What kind of slug is this?

7

Drift rose bushes

12

Native ground cover for shade in Philadelphi

2

Is this a spider mite or a soil mite?

1