Why Do Ants Build Anthills In Yards
Ants decide to build anthills in yards because, like every other living creature, they are looking for food, water, and shelter. They need shelter specifically for their queen and her larvae.
The mound itself is the entrance to the shelter underneath your lawn. It helps regulate the temperature inside the mound, keeping it ideal for reproduction. It also protects the ants and the larvae from predators.
Anthills come in different sizes and vary slightly in shape, but they are generally round mounds that can be a couple of inches to two feet wide. They can also grow up to 18 inches tall.
These are only estimations of average-sized yard anthills. They can grow much bigger than that, but the average ones stay near those measurements. It takes a perfect environment for an anthill to reach enormous sizes, which your yard probably doesnt have.
However, even the smallest anthill is an annoying eyesore. So, why are they in your yard? There are several reasons, lets find out what they are!
How To Get Rid Of Ant Hills
The best way to kill ant hills is by wiping out the whole colony. For this to happen, youll need to kill the queen ants, who usually reside two to three feet below the ground.
Ant nests can last for many years, with worker ants excavating it, fighting off any predators, and feeding their queen and larvae. Dont allow the nests to give you endless grief by using one of the solutions below.
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How To Get Rid Of Large Ant Hills In Lawn
Getting rid of large ant mounds from your lawn is quite possible all you need is the right equipment to get it out.
Start by mowing down grass around the large ant mound, then create an ant bait around the mound and apply boric acid or any other insecticides. Dont forget the entrance! Leave the trap for a few days or a week. This will give it time to reach the queen. Finally, flatten the mound using a rake or a shovel.
Fortunately, getting rid of ant mounds in your lawn is not that difficult. Compared to other insects such as bed bugs, there are several impactful ways and products you can use to get rid of ant mounds in your lawn.
Once you figure out which method works best for you, be sure it will serve you for a very long time.
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Lawn Care And Ant Hills
The mounds and hills formed by ant colonies are not the only issue with these fascinating insects. Many species also have an interest in ranching, and will farm aphids and mealybugs, protecting them and assisting their daily needs in order to keep a local source of honeydew.
Honeydew is the substance secreted by aphids and mealybugs and is something of a delicacy to ants. Having a colony of farming ants can mean real trouble for your veggies and ornamental plants, the food of choice for mealybugs and aphids. Controlling ants in the lawn is a good way to minimize the population of these pest insects.
Ants prefer dry, well-drained soil in an undisturbed low traffic area. Lawn dwelling ants are generally not an issue because these are not the stinging sort but some species have a habit of undermining grass roots and can cause large dead patches in the lawn.
Another issue is ant hills in grass, which can become large and pose a tripping hazard and make mowing difficult. For low populations, raking will be a regular maintenance for lawn care and ant hills. Simply raking out the hills will scatter the population and reduce hardened mounds from occurring. This simple step is effective if done on a weekly basis from fall to summer.
How To Prevent Ants From Taking Over The Lawn
The massive and uncontrolled presence of ants represents a great threat to your garden. These insects are capable of causing considerable damages, such as stealing seeds, eating fruit pulp, and bringing aphids to plants. However, there is a way to prevent ants from destroying your garden. In this article, we tell you what are the best ways to reduce and control the proliferation of these insects on your lawn.
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Do You Spray Your Property With Insecticides
Although there are many spray insecticides that can kill ants quickly, you should know that their efficiency will depend on various conditions. For example, rain could easily wash off the formula or dilute it to the point where it will no longer kill ants on contact.
The residual control of spray formulas is not very impressive either. Compared to powders and granules, which may be able to handle some watering, sprays wont last as long. Theres also a concern about introducing insecticides to your edible crops, so keep that it mind when deciding which products to use.
A Final Tip on Dealing with Ant Colonies
The products used to eradicate ant colonies outside will often be different than the ones used inside your home. Make sure that you dont use the same product inside and outside unless the ingredients are acceptable, pet- and child-safe, and if the weather resistance of the formula is adequate.
How To Get Rid Of Ant Mounds In Lawn
Small mounds on your lawn may not look like a major issue to you. But If left unchallenged, ants living within the mounds will flourish to a colony of over a million occupying the entire lawn beneath.
So How do you get rid of ants nests in your grass? Before morphing into a ninja and unleashing your wrath on these tiny creatures, its good to ask yourself the following questions:
- Are they in a secluded part of your lawn?
- Do they pose any danger to you and your family?
Note: its not morally right to kill just for the sake of killing. Now that the moralizing part is over, lets get to work and turn you into one of the worlds best ant killer.
First, lets look at natural methods of getting rid of ants.
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Why Do Ants Make Ant Hills
Most ant species live underground in vast complexes of tunnels and rooms. All of that excavated dirt has to go somewhere. As the workers excavate new passageways and chambers, they carry the dirt out and deposit it at the entrance, much like human miners do. Ant hills are the result.
But these prehistoric survivors have learned some very valuable lessons over the past hundred million years or so and have adapted these mounds to serve as more than a city dump.
The mounds are built around the colony entrances and tamped down to help prevent rain from flooding the lower galleries. To some extent, they also serve as temperature regulators, much like a vestibule or sally port in human structures.
Try Getting Rid Of Anthills By Using Spice
Spices create a clear reaction when we taste them. Our tongues burn up, and our eyes leak. Ants also react. They do NOT like spice. This method does not get rid of ants completely, but soaking it into the anthill will make it inhospitable for them, causing them to move.
Ants hate the smell of black pepper, spicy cinnamon, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and cloves.
Other smells that ants hate can be found in our popular article about Scents That Ants Hate And How To Use Them.
Use these scents in and around anthills to make their nest unpleasant to be in and around your house to keep them from coming in.
Sprinkle one or several of these spices on the anthill or create a solution with water and the ground-up spices to pour down the entrance and exit of the anthill. Creating an unlivable environment for the ants jumpstarts the process of getting rid of them and their underground home.
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How To Get Rid Of Large Ant Hills & Colonies
Swatting away a few ants or using a magnifier to burn them off is something everyone can do. The problem is dealing with massive colonies and large ant hills that arent visible.
So, if you want to know how to get rid of large ant hills & colonies, youll first need to familiarize yourself with ant behavior, different types of killing methods, and the various types of products you can use.
Can Ants Cause Health Issues
Can ants cause health issues? Although ants are just a nuisance, they can pose serious health issues for the homeowner and their family. Did you know you may even catch E. coli from ants? Lets look into this a little more below.
As discussed above, ants will send out scouts looking for food and resources. Anthills in your lawn surrounding your home mean that ants will eventually end up in your home. As they roam all over the home, they pick up germs and bacteria, and this can get deposited onto food that you may not lock away in airtight containers.
The ants can contract other bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella, and E.coli while they roam around bathroom areas in your home. Again these can be passed onto humans or your beloved pets as the ants clamber over the food and preparation areas of the kitchen.
Ants can also contract Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Clostridium. It is usually contracted from feces that the ants have crawled over outside. It again is passed on to you through food prep areas. You cannot catch any of these diseases through stings and bites.
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Why Does Killing Lawn Ants Matter
Some might argue that we shouldnt mess with the ants in our lawn as they are respecting their space and staying outside of our homes.
However, some circumstances of having ants in your lawn can be detrimental both to your lawn and end up with your home.
Ants can invest in any place, not just indoors. Having several anthills in your driveway or your lawn can mean there are too many ants on your property to have a good lawn ecosystem.
Too many ants will kill off plants by either damaging roots through building their nest or through them eating the stems and leaves of your growing plants.
If you have animals, they can bring ants inside if you have too many in your yard. A dog that loves to roll around in the grass can pick up ants in their fur.
Not only will that be irritating to your dogs skin from ant bites, but the ants will have a ride to the inside of your house.
This can lead to a very unwanted ant infestation. To prevent these situations from happening, lets learn how to kill off your lawn ants.
Is There A Natural Way To Destroy Ant Hills
There are several natural substances and deterrents that you can use to deal with your outdoor ant problem. They offer the least expensive method of destroying ant hills.
Lets find out what these natural solutions are:
- Carbonated waterThe carbon dioxide in carbonated water displaces the oxygen in the ant nest. This suffocates the lower levels of the nest, killing the queen. Depending on how deep the nest runs, you may have to pour a liter of the water or more over the hill.
- Pipe tobacco and waterAn excellent way of destroying ant colonies is using nicotine-infused water. The same pipe tobacco that can harm your health can also affect ants. It can quickly eliminate a colony. Soak the tobacco overnight. Discard the wet tobacco in the morning and pour the liquid over the ant hills.
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Final Thoughts On Ant Hill Removal
Thankfully, getting rid of ants hills in your yard or around your house isnt THAT hard. Compared to other pests , there are plenty of effective products and methods of removal you can try out.
Once you figure out a way that works, you can usually rely on that strategy for a long time to continue working!
Can Ants Destroy A Lawn
It is important to understand the serious and irreversible damage that ants can inflict on your lawn. Especially in the spring and summer months, there is a very high danger that ants will massively infest the lawn, creating several anthills and pillaging your plants, shrubs, and trees, as well as in orchards.
Ants pose a direct threat to fruit trees in particular, but they can also, in a less direct way, influence the destruction of all other plants. Ants usually attack the fruits by feeding on the pulp and causing considerable damage due to their collective action. Since they are social insects that move in herds, they manage to attack fruit trees in large masses and, consequently, have a considerable impact on them.
On the other hand, ants are also naturally attracted to sweet-tasting substances produced by many insects, such as aphids. Another damage that ants can do to your lawn is that they are capable of creating grooves in the soil that, if they dig near the roots, can block the circulation of water and nutrients found in the soil. By doing so, they can disrupt the livelihoods that plants and trees feed on.
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How To Identify Ant Hills
While ant hills are usually pretty easy to spot, its important to know that they come in different shapes and sizes. Some are generally circular or donut-shaped, while others are domed. There are even flat ant mounds.
Additionally, ants arent the only pest that may push up dirt piles on your lawn. For example, moles and gophers can leave what looks like random clumps of looser of dirt in your yard.
Generally, ant hills are small mounds, and many have a hole or a small depression in the center. Additionally, the dirt typically looks finer, and you may even see sand or a sand-like substance instead of whats commonly referred to as dirt.
The height of an ant hill can vary. As mentioned above, some are flat or near-flat, while others may be slightly above ground level. A few species even build incredibly tall mounds, reaching heights of up to 20 inches if left unchecked.
While the presence of ants may indicate whether its an ant hill or created by another pest, approaching the mound is risky if you arent certain of the species. If you get too close to an ant hill made by a more aggressive ant such as fire ants they may swarm, putting your life in danger.
Additionally, some wasp species burrow into the soil to create nests and can leave small mounds near the entrances. As a result, if you arent sure what type of mound it is, its best to contact a professional.
Treat Ant Nests With Bait Stations
Start by choosing an eco-friendly soap , mix it with water, and spray it into and around the mounds.
You can also use hot water, but avoid making the water too hot because hot water destroys grass. Soap will suffocate the ants to death, and diluting it with water lessens the chances of the soap damaging your grass.
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Smoothing Out Anthills In Your Yard
After using one or more of the above methods , you should have taken out the ant population, at least enough to permanently displace them from the anthill.
Now you can clear out and level the anthill using a rake to smooth out the mound.
If your anthill is on a part of your yard that once grew grass, then be careful when using the rake to flatten the anthill as it could smother the surrounding grass. You should remove excess soil to keep it from covering too much grass.
If you used plant-killing chemicals to destroy the ants underground, remove any of the affected soil and replace it with untouched soil. Once the area is flat and the soil mixed up loosely, then you can spread grass seed over it and begin the process of regrowing.
Tips For Preventing Ant Hills
Ants arent too picky in choosing a home but there are some things you can do to deter them from creating tunnels underneath your lawn. Here are a few ways to ensure that ants dont start making a hill on your grass:
- Mow your lawn: Keep the vegetation to a minimum and cut your grass regularly. If ants feel that theyre exposed, theyre less likely to choose that spot to start tunneling in.
- Use dish detergent: Spray your lawn occasionally with a dish soap and water mixture thats gentle on the grass but may deter ants. As a bonus, dish soap can prevent weed growth as well.
- Get rid of food: Whether you throw food scraps on the lawn or feed birds some seed, ants will be attracted to these morsels. Avoid placing any food sources on the grass and they wont want to come near.
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Tend To Your Yard And Keep It Tidy
The key to a happy and healthy yard is tending to it often.
It is important to take care of your lawn just as you would any other plant in your yard. This may seem like a daunting task at first, but it becomes easy once you get the hang of it!
Some more helpful tips on keeping your garden looking its best can be found here. Not sure what tools to use to tend to your yard? Take a look at this article!
