Home Made Ant Killers
When it comes to killing off a nest, there are numerous home remedies that get recommended on the web. The problem is, they often dont work immediately, dont work at all, or have other side effects.
These include
Pour Boiling Water into an Ants Nest
This is the most widely known way to kill a nest. Simply find as many entrances as you can and pour boiling water into them.
The issue is that this
Use Dishwasher Liquid and Olive Oil
Another common method is to mix washing up liquid with olive oil and water. This penetrates the ants exoskeleton and suffocates it.
Again though, it can take a while to work and the detergent can bleach the grass, making it paler than the rest of the lawn.
Put Boric Acid and Sugar on Your Lawn
The idea behind using Boric Acid and sugar is that you mix it into a paste and put it on certain areas o of your lawn near the nest. The sweet sugar attracts the ants and they take it back to the nest for the colony to feed on. Then the Boric Acid kills the ants.
The problem with this approach is that it needs to be mixed very precisely. If you dont use enough Boric Acid, you wont kill the ants. Use too much and youll kill the ant that takes it before its reached the nest. Youll also kill the grass.
Pour White Vinegar Onto a Nest
Many people recommend pouring a litre of white vinegar onto an ants nest.
Killing Ant Hills With Boiling Water And Borax: Is It Effective
Pouring boiling water over an ant hill can kill a lot of ants. The high temperature is likely to weaken the infrastructure of the nest. Depending on the size of the kettle and ant colony, you may have to make two or three trips to the kitchen.
The problem with hot water is that it may not reach the lowest tunnels. The ants at the bottom will also have enough time to flee the nest, so you may not get rid of the whole colony.
Borax is considered as one of the most effective ant hill killers. You can sprinkle it over an ant mound in powder form.
You can also mix it with a sugar solution and spray the mixture around the ant hill. The ants will be attracted to the sugar. They will take the mixture to their nest. The Borax will eliminate the entire ant colony.
Take extra care not to pour Borax on your lawn because it will kill the grass. You should also keep it away from children and pets because its harmful if ingested.
How To Deter Ants
To put it simply, all you have to do to eliminate ants is to first eliminate the things that attracted them to your yard in the first place. Being disciplined about emptying excess water from potted plants, fixing leaking spigots, and pouring out items that collect water is an effective way to eradicate the water source.
Ridding your home of ant food can be difficult but is possible. Ants are attracted to nearly any food a human consumes, so any food waste is perfect for an ant. Moving trash cans away from the home as well as picking up any litter surrounding your home can keep the ants further from the home, but not necessarily keep them from nesting in the yard.
The biggest issue in deterring ants lies in the fact that ants need the same things humans need. As long as you are producing food waste and using water, ants will be there to get what they can. The goal is to be as responsible with your disposal of food waste and control of water around your home, to make your home as undesirable as possible to a colony of ants.
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Killing Ants In Your Lawn With Chemicals
Spot control is the best method for killing ants. They tend to concentrate in a small area and spot application isolates the chemical zone and minimizes damage to beneficial insects who also call the grass home.
Use either a spray or granular form. Locate the nest and apply the chemical as indicated on the label. Granular forms require activation with water, so it is best to irrigate after applying the chemical. In all cases, wait until a treated area has dried before allowing children and pets into the toxic zone.
Ants can be a blessing and a curse, so consider the severity of the problem before resorting to chemical treatments. Their activity is also a natural pest control and can increase the tilth of soil, acting as wild aerators to loosen the dirt around roots and enhance growth.
Identify The Ant Hills In Your Lawn
The first step in getting rid of ant hills is identifying where they are located. This can be not easy, especially if you have a large lawn. Look for small mounds of dirt about the size of a quarter. If you see any, mark them with a flag or something so you can easily find them again.
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When In Doubt Call A Professional Ant Exterminator
Of course, the easiest way to get rid of ants in your lawn is to call a professional ant control expert. Depending on the type of ants living in your backyard, the exterminator may use one or several methods of ant extermination, choosing the most effective and least damaging treatment options. By calling an expert, you can minimize damage to your lawn, remove ant mounds in record time, and enjoy your lawn all summer long. Call Antworks today for an ant extermination quote!
Kill The Ants But Not Your Lawn
- Try to avoid chemicals, if you can. Insecticides arent the most effective way to kill entire ant mounds, unless theyre professional grade and properly applied. Chemicals will also kill your grass in a short amount of time.
- Dont use boiling water. Another popular option that will definitely contribute to grass loss.
- Dont use vinegar. Acetic acid can dry out the top layer of your lawn.
- Dont use soap and water during the day. When you water your lawn with any kind of liquid during the day, youre essentially magnifying the suns effects on your grass, causing burns and deterioration. If the suns out, the water should be away!
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How To Find An Ant Hill
Believe it or not, not all ant hills will perch graciously over the grass line for you to see them. The majority will likely be hidden underground. This can pose a few problems and challenges. For one, you may have to buy a lot of bait and start spreading it all over your property.
Secondly, the ant hills could be outside your property line but the ants might still visit you for food. This may make it even more difficult to deal with the problem. Finding the ant hill is your first priority. However, this might require a bit of patience.
Youll have to follow the ants. They almost always use the same path, because theyre guided by pheromones, back to their hill. Place some bait in a high-ant-traffic area and watch where the ants are going.
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How Are Anthills Constructed In Lawns
Before we go into killing ants in your lawn, I think it is important to understand how an anthill is constructed. Anthills are a maze of tunnels and chambers that can stretch to over 3ft deep and 4ft wide. Impacting the entire colony with one application of anything will be nigh on impossible. It will require a regime of treatments to kill off the entire colony.
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The Northern Hemisphere Is Finally Tipping Towards Spring Which Means Many People Living In Cooler Climates Will Soon Be Trading Out Rakes And Snow Shovels For Lawn Mowers Regardless Of Which Region Of The Country You Live In However Anyone Who Enjoys Working In The Yard Can Tell You That Ant Hills Can Easily Mar The Most Manicured Of Lawns
Additionally, if you live in an area of the United States that’s inhabited by fire ants, your yard not only loses aesthetic appeal it can become a minefield of potential pain.
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It’s safe to say that almost no one wants to see ant mounds in their yard or around their house. Learn about the landscape blemishes ants call home,” and then get some tips that can help you figure out how to get rid of ant hills.
Tip # : Using Lemon And Water:
Lemon sap can work as vinegar. By using lemon sap, the ants will be removed from the grasses or plants naturally. The recipe is: squeeze
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Tips To Get Rid Of Ants In Lawn
Once ants become established in your lawn, they can be hard to evict, but its far from an impossible task so if this is a problem youre dealing with, here are our top 13 tips to get rid of ants in lawn.
For a preview of a couple of the methods were going to be talking about, you can check out this video before reading on.
Washing Up Liquid And Olive Oil Or Canola Oil
By adding olive oil or canola oil, some people claim the mixture becomes more effective at killing the ants. The theory is that the oil blocks up the spiracles, openings in the ants exoskeletons that they breathe through, effectively suffocating them to death.
Mix one tablespoon of oil, one tablespoon of washing up liquid and a quart of water to create the solution then use it as a spray or to pour into the nest.
Pros
- Arguably more effective than using soap and water alone
- Cheap and easy to make with ingredients most people have at home
Cons
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Why Are There So Many Ant Hills In My Yard
If your yard has dry soil that drains properly, then its perfect for them since it is convenient in carrying out their construction. Besides, if you hold frequent barbecues or picnics in the yard, be sure to clean every last bit of food that has dropped on the ground since ants feed on such leftovers, and therefore, this may attract them. If you have been wondering, Why are there so many ant hills in my yard? These two factors could be among the reasons why there is an ant infestation.
Controlling Ants In Your Lawn Without Using Chemicals
Controlling any unwanted species in your lawn is all about creating conditions that they dont like. We aerate because moss prefers compacted soils, we scarify because the fungi that cause lawn diseases thrive in the thatch layer.
Ants like dry, well drained soil in undisturbed areas. Its not unusual to find lovely big ant colonies living in meadows. Farmers leave their meadow grass to grow unchecked from March June. You dont know the ants are there until the grass gets cut to make hay.
It stands to reason, that regular aeration and scarification of your lawn will disturb the soil enough to deter ants to a certain extent. But please dont be tempted to irrigate your lawn so often that its too wet for ants to thrive in if its too wet for ants, its probably also too soggy for grass to thrive in.
NEVER pour boiling water onto an ants nest in your lawn youll kill the grass and all of the wonderful soil microbes that help sustain a healthy garden.
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How To Control Ants In Your Lawn
Im all for nurturing a healthy ecosystem, but sometimes you dont want to have an ecosystem crawling all over your picnic and up the leg of your shorts. In this blog, were looking at ways of controlling ants in your lawn.
Ants are amazing little creatures. They have truly sophisticated societies and are just as well organised and as busy as bees are.
In the garden, ants help to aerate the soil, to break down dead plant material and to eat pests such as mites and lava. They are fascinating insects and an important part of the ecosystem. But, as I said in the introduction, nobody welcomes an ecosystem invading their summer afternoon.
On a lawn, ants do very little direct damage. They dont seem to eat the grass or its roots. However, they do create ant hills. Mounds of earth that ruin the look of a lawn, make the surface uneven for mowing and potentially create areas of bare soil for weeds to colonise. For the most part, theyre a nuisance rather than a threat.
Two Homemade Boric Acid Solution
Boric acid has been used for a long time as the premier weapon against ant colonies. Its an efficient ant killer and can be dispersed easily on top of a hill, as the insecticide comes in powder form. Because it kills on contact, it can take care of an entire ant hill rather quickly.
But, it also needs some help. Since it has no broadcasting capabilities, its worth mixing it in a solution with water and sugar. Sugar will draw ants and the boric acid will kill them. It also disguises the chemical. Finally, when using a watery boric acid solution, youll also be able to pour it directly into the ant hill, making sure that it reaches deep into the tunnel network.
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A Final Word About Ant Hills
While its true that having an ant problem outside is much better than dealing with an ant infestation indoors, it still poses a risk. For example, ant bites and stings create health problems for those allergic to insect venom.
Also, its hard to ignore the extensive damage ant hills create to your lawn and garden. So, its vital to familiarize yourself with the types of ants you may encounter around your home, and hopefully, weve helped you do that here.
What Are The Best Ways
The best ant killers dont necessarily have to be chemical based. Organic killers are also efficient at eradicating ant colonies, and they do so without harming humans, animals, and the environment.
With the many rumors floating online, you can easily waste your time on an ant hill solution that doesnt work. For instance, some sources describe coffee grounds as an excellent organic ant hill killer. Nothing could be further from the truth. While they block the entryways to the nests, they dont kill the ants on contact.
Separate fact from fiction by learning about the best ant killer for your home here.
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How To Get Rid Of Ants In The Lawn
Ants in the lawn can be annoying, unsightly and sometimes painful! Being able to enjoy your backyard is a right for all homeowners. Certainly, if you have children and pets, you want them to be able to enjoy playing on the lawn without getting bitten.
Ants that set up home in and around your lawn tend to be ants that bite or sting. Green headed ants will be well known to many people giving a painful sting that may itch for several days afterwards. But there are a number of smaller, faster moving ants that also give a mild sting or bite not as painful, but still annoying.
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.
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Best Selling Products To Remove Ant Hills
The many ant killers available can make it difficult for you to get one that fits your needs. Weve gone the extra mile for you and compiled some of the most effective products available. These products dont just target individual ants but also the queen ants and the entire hive population.
Ant hills can be such a handful. Now that you know the natural and store-bought solutions you can use, you can deal with those mounds squarely and enjoy a new anthill-free life.
You can find further details of Ants Control here.
