How to get rid of ants in the garden

Ants are certainly beneficial to the garden, and if there aren't many of them, let them be. But this is only for a limited time, as they say. If ants have taken a liking to your territory, it's all over. Besides ravaging the garden with their nests, they'll also bring aphids to the trees and plants, which they nurture and care for, carrying them to the bushes and trees, milking them and feeding on their sweet juices. Then the leaves on the trees and bushes will begin to curl, and the cucumbers will dry up. And in a panic, you'll start looking for ways to get rid of ants in your garden, house, or apartment. We'll explore all the available options for dealing with these uninvited guests so they don't ruin your life and your harvest.

Store-bought ant control products

Of course, you can jump straight to chemicals to save time. But keep in mind that you could poison the soil and harm your plants. Therefore, be selective and don't dump everything on the soil; we need to grow crops and eat them. So, choose the gentlest store-bought products and get going!

If you discover anthills before planting, don't hesitate to buy "Muravyed" (Anteater), treat them, and plant your garden without further ado. One bottle is enough to destroy all the anthills in your garden, and it kills both the insects and their larvae.

Rubit is also effective—especially effective for killing ants indoors. If you've already started using your plants and there aren't many ants in your garden yet, you can spread the product along the paths, applying a drop of it with a syringe onto pieces of paper. It lasts for several hours, giving the ants time to carry the poison to the queen anthill.

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Folk remedies for exterminating ants

We still recommend trying folk remedies first; they're safe for you and your harvest, and they won't harm beneficial insects or pets. Gardeners have come up with a variety of methods, so you can try them out to see which one works best for you.

Boiling water. The simplest remedy is to dig up the anthill and pour boiling water deep inside it.
Boric acidMix 1/3 teaspoon of boric acid with 2 tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of sugar. Place the bait along the paths where the ants run. Don't make the mixture too strong, otherwise the insects won't even make it to the nest and will die. We want them to drag the poison inside and kill their fellow ants, including the queen. You can also make a water solution and pour it into the nest. This way, by attacking from both sides, you've defeated the ants.

If you feel sorry for the little workers, you can try more gentle methods, such as digging up and transporting the ants to a forest or field, sprinkling anthills with ash, lime and salt, spreading wormwood around the garden, smearing tree trunks with tar, watering paths with diesel fuel, tying bunches of green garlic around trees and tying tires filled with water around them.

These are all gentle methods that won't harm the ants too much. They may take a long time and aren't very effective, but you'll have the peace of mind that you didn't kill the small creatures, only drove them out of their rightful territory. Carbolic acid will also help—if you pour a 20% solution onto the anthill, the insects will flee as far as possible from their nest. Gardeners also recommend using urine; they say it makes ants, whose sense of smell is too sensitive, turn their noses up too much and they also retreat. It's a completely free remedy, so you might want to give it a try.

Elderberry and wormwood, mint, and sunflower oil, especially roasted sunflower seeds for added aroma, have a strong olfactory effect on ants. Green garlic shoots also disrupt their balance; they can be placed along paths and rubbed on tree trunks from the ground up.

 

Sugar syrup — a simple trap. Ants, as we all know, absolutely adore sweets—as soon as a sweet appears freely accessible and unattended in the house, they're suddenly there, eating and dragging the delicious treat back to their nest. Why not take advantage of this? Fill a few bottles with sugar syrup, and after a few hours, you'll attract hordes of ants (and then do with them as you please). Such baits can be placed both in the house and in the garden.

Nuclear potion – a proven way to repel ants. Try it if you're completely tormented by the insects and there's no escape. Mix 400g each of cheap shampoo, vinegar, and fragrant vegetable oil in a bucket of water, destroy the anthill, and dump this explosive mixture into the nest. Better yet, cover it all with plastic wrap. After a couple of days, remove the cover, and the ants will be gone.

You can make a similarly potent mixture with a bucket of water, adding laundry soap, 300 grams of kerosene, and two tablespoons of carbolic acid. You can use it to water anthills and spray trees infested with ants and aphids. Aphids, which are herded by ants, also dislike horseradish leaves and roots. You can chop them up, steep them, and use them to water and spray your plants.

Cinnamon — is a gentle method, sprinkled on paths. It clogs the ants' sense of smell and confuses them. They also hate diesel fuel—spray it near anthills and along their paths—and the little pests will disappear from your property like a breeze.

You can also:

• Whitewashing trees
• Grow mint, wormwood, tansy and garlic
• Girdle tree trunks with sticky belts
• Make aprons from foil with sharp edges
• Use ultrasonic repellents

Experiment with what measures work for you. Each individual has their own nuances and types of ants, but you're sure to find the right remedy to help you in your fight against these pesky insects.

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