There are many common garden pests and the ant is the most common one you’ll come across. The most common type of ant is the pavement ant. These ants get into your home and go after sweet things such as a juice spill on the floor, for example. If these ants can’t find anything sweet outside, they make their way into your home. You’ll need a good remedy to get rid of these ants so they make their way inside.
The carpenter ant is another common type of ant. They get their name from their ability to eat into wood to create a borrow. These ants can weaken the structure of the home so they have to be exterminated if you find them. If you see them in the yard or garden, they still need to be dealt with because eventually they will get inside. In many cases, an exterminator will be required.
If you own a garden, you may have pests there that you want to get rid of. You’ll want a method that doesn’t include pesticides because you don’t want chemicals on your vegetables or flowers. Ant mounds are the most common threat so you’ll want to eliminate these.
Removing ant mounds
One easy way to remove ant mounds is to use pipe tobacco. You can soak the tobacco overnight and then make a tea with it. You want to discard the tobacco and use gloves when handling the water. You want to poor this over the ant mound to soak them in the solution which kills the ants. You can also use glue in ant hills and put baby powder on any ant trail you see as all these methods will kill them.
Boric acid is another method to remove ants. You take this acid and mix it with sugar to form a paste. You need about one tablespoon of the acid to one cup of sugar. Take the pasts and drop piece sof it near the ant hill or where you see the ants. The ants eat the poisoned sugar and take sugar to the queen which will kill the entire colony. Make sure you avoid having plants that attract any insects that produce honeydew like aphids as this attracts ants to the honeydew.
Keeping ants off of vegetables, flowers, and flowering vines
At the base of the plant use cinnamon or mint. Ants don’t like these smells and will be deterred by them. You can use borax as described above, but cornmeal and sugar will also work as the cornmeal will expand and kill the ant. Use a piece of paper and make a collar which will trap the ants. Just cut out a circle about 8 inches wide and fit this around the base of your plant. On one side of the paper you want to put some Vaseline which will trap the ants. Watch the ants to see the trails that they take to your plants. Soak a cloth in ammonia or bleach and place this cloth over the ant trail as this will keep the ants away from the plants. Make sure you don’t pour the solution onto the soil as this will kill the plant roots.
Some plants like garlic, geranium, henbit, chrysanthemum, aster, mint, and calendula will repel ants naturally. Put these plants around any affected plant and this will help to keep ants away from it.
By following these tips you’re going to have a garden free of ants and reduce the risk of the ants getting into your home as you’ll be stopping them at the source.