Every gardener has to deal with ants. The insects populate the garden with their nests and make some areas impassable. How to get rid of them, you will learn in this article.
In a nutshell
- Ants don't need to be killed to drive them out of the garden
- prevent colonization by removing food sources and aphids and make your garden paths and patios ant-proof
- Scent barriers made from spices, essential oils and products such as vinegar are well suited as a remedy against insects
- Lime and glue are avoided by them, which means that individual sections on the property can be closed off or the streets can be broken through
- alternatively, the nests can be relocated
Prevent ant infestation
Preventing ants from settling is extremely effective in protecting your property from them. When it comes to prevention, it's important to make your property as unattractive to insects as possible. Three methods are used:
- Eliminate food sources (e.g. fermenting fruit, sweets, waste)
- Control aphids
- Create paths and terraces safely
Aphids in particular ensure that ants come to your property. Therefore, you should definitely fight them to prevent them from settling. You probably know that ants are attracted to leftovers, especially sweet ones. Make sure to always remove these and seal waste tightly. You must also be careful to collect fallen fruit so that it does not ferment. If you create paths or terraces, use basalt chippings instead of paving sand. Grit does not allow animals to make a nest under the warm stones. Optionally, fill the joints with paving joint mortar so that the insects have no further access.
Notice: If insects are prevented from settling, you also protect your living space from them. If nests are built under terraces and paths, the workers often enter the house in search of food and return again and again depending on possible availability.
Drive away ants: 5 home remedies and methods
If you suddenly discover an ant nest or a road in your garden, you must act. There are a variety of home remedies you can use to drive ants away without harming the insects. Your plants will also not suffer any damage from the home remedies used. Because of this, they are excellent for getting rid of the colony. In the following sections, you will be presented with 5 suitable home remedies that you can use immediately.
Tip: Avoid using ant poisons in your own garden as much as possible, especially if you have small children or pets. While frolicking, the poison can easily be picked up and swallowed, leading to dangerous situations.
scent barriers
Scent barriers are particularly effective against ants in your garden. Animals' olfactory organs are sensitive to a variety of aromas and for this reason stay away from them. You can take advantage of this by trying different scent barriers. These include:
- garlic
- cinammon
- cloves
- lavender
- tea tree oil
- coffee grounds
- eucalyptus oil
- Chilies (powder)
- lemon peels
- vinegar essence
cloves
Place them directly on the ant trail as a spice or place them in small bowls as essential oil. Ideally, the insects will not venture around the barrier. After a rainfall, this method must be repeated. Alternatively, place some of the household remedies mentioned directly on or in front of the entrances to the nests.
plant barriers
If you often have to deal with ants in your beds, use plants as protection. As with the household remedies already mentioned, the smell of the plants is used here, which the insects do not like. Plant the following plants in your beds to protect others:
- tomatoes
- lavender
- juniper
- chervil
- marjoram
- ferns
- lime
Juniper bush with juniper berries
Formicidae not only keep their distance from scents, but from alkaline substances. Lime in particular should be mentioned here, which you can use in the form of chalk, chalk powder or powdered lime. Use the chalk to draw a line around your plants or sections of the garden that you don't want the animals to cross. You can also apply the lime to the streets. Since this home remedy is not waterproof, you will need to reapply it after it rains.
duct tape
Tape can be used similar to lime. With this you do not build a border that would make further settlement more difficult, but rather interrupt the important ant trails. Take a generous piece of tape and use it to break the road at a convenient point. An example would be access to your property if the nest is outside or the route to a food source. Adhesive tape interrupts the road's scent trail, causing the animals to lose their bearings and seek new paths, which is not always successful.
Tip: As an alternative to tape, you can create a barrier of grease or petroleum jelly. The animals cannot cross this barrier and have to find other ways.
Last resort: relocate
If the methods mentioned so far have not helped or only slightly, you should relocate the ant nest. With the resettlement, you move the nest out of your garden, so to speak, without destroying the colony. Of course, some of the worker bees will remain in your garden, since not all of them return to the nest early enough. However, since these cannot manage without the rest of the colony and there is no queen, there is no resettlement. The following items are required for this project:
- wood wool
- plant pot
- spade
- vessel (larger than flower pot)
This measure is suitable if it is preferably a smaller nest. Larger settlements are difficult to remove in this way. Alternatively, you can use multiple flowerpots and check which one gets chosen by the queen. With these instructions, the resettlement of the people succeeds:
- Fill the flower pot with wood shavings
- Turn over the flower pot
- Wood shavings must not fall out
- Place the flower pot upside down on the nest entrance
- alternatively on an ant trail in close proximity to the nest
- wait a few days
If the flower pot is selected, the ants will start transporting their eggs into it. In this case, wait until no more eggs are transported, because then the move to the pot has been successful. Now take the spade and carefully lift the pot with the nest into the larger vessel. Do not turn the pot upside down. Then transport the nest to a location at least 30 meters from your property, otherwise the animals could return. Forest edges are well suited for this. As a precaution, wear gloves and sturdy shoes for the project.
frequently asked Questions
Can the insects be repelled with baking soda?For decades, it has been advised to use baking soda as a home remedy against Formicidae. They would eat the powder and die from it, which is not the case as the insects avoid it as much as possible. If they come into contact with the powder, they suffer severe chemical burns that can cause life-threatening injuries. They die in agony. Despite the effect, baking soda is very unreliable and does not provide the desired effect.
What works against aphids?If you have ants due to an aphid infestation, you need to get rid of them too. This is especially important if you have not managed to prevent the lice infestation. Rinse the affected plants either well with water or use nettle decoction or liquid manure. The use of predators such as parasitic wasps, ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies also helps. With these you can kill the pests.
How is a visit by insects from another property prevented?It is not uncommon for the ants' nest to be outside your property and the animals to explore your green oasis in search of food. In this case, you should permanently close possible accesses such as wall cracks. Formicidae like to use structural defects to develop further areas. For this reason, it can be enough if you fix them.