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You are here: Home / Garden Pests / How You Can Get Rid Of Ants Naturally

How You Can Get Rid Of Ants Naturally

in Garden Pests, Gardening, Insect Control on 01/21/23

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Are you having an issue with ants in your yard or garden?  Are you looking for ways to get rid of ants naturally?  If so, click through to learn how, now...
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How You Can Get Rid Of Ants Naturally

Ants can be funny little creatures and sometimes, it’s hard to figure out whether or not they are great for your garden. 

On the one hand, they can help your garden in many ways. For one, they can control common pests by eating their eggs and young as well as by disturbing their feeding.

They can also improve the pollination rate of your plants while supporting a healthy ecosystem in your garden, they help aerate the soil and speed up the decomposition of leaves and other organic material.

A fire ant walking on a stem
If you don’t get the ants in your garden under control your fruits may be in harms way

On the other hand, they can also hurt your garden. They love all things sweet so if you’re growing fruits, they can damage some of your produce.

They also tend to feed on honeydew produced by pests such as mealybugs which protects the latter from their natural predators.

What’s more, certain types of ants like fire ants and carpenter ants can cause you pain while working in the garden. If you aggravate them, they could bite or sting you.

Species Of Ants

  • Odorous house ants
  • Pharaoh ants
  • Argentine ants
  • Queen ants
  • Sugar ants
  • Worker ants
  • Scout ants
  • Crazy ants
  • Black ants

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How To Get Rid Of Ants

If you find that these pesky ants are wreaking havoc on your lawn or in your garden, you might want to consider these tips to Get Rid Of Ants Naturally:

Boiling Water

Three ants on a yellow flower
There’s no need for harmful chemicals when you can use everyday items such as soapy water

The most common way to control ants in your garden is by pouring boiling hot water onto any affected area such as ant mounds, ant hills, or nests. You might have to do this several times to get rid of all the ants in your garden.

Dishwashing Liquid and Oil

Mix one quart of water with half a teaspoon of liquid detergent or dish soap and add one and a half teaspoons of cooking oil to the soapy water and place it in a spray bottle. Use this mixture and repellent spray to suffocate ants and control the ant colonies.

Boric Acid and Sugar

Two ants on a stem
Setting a trap is an excellent way to get rid of ants

To get rid of ants naturally mix equal parts boric acid and sugar until it turns into a paste. Place small amounts of the mixture near the ant nest.

The sugar will attract them. Once they consume this mixture and bring the rest back to their queen ant, they will begin to die because of the boric acid.

White Vinegar

If you need a quick fix that won’t hurt your soil or the plants in your garden, use white vinegar. Pouring vinegar on an anthill is one of the best natural methods since it can kill them on contact.

Coffee Grounds

Although coffee grounds do not kill ants, they do repel many ant species this will stop your ant problem by having the entire colony relocate to get away from the coffee grounds.

Glass Cleaner

Glass cleaner is a known treatment plan when you have an ant infestation in your house, spray them all with glass cleaner, they will die nearly instantly. This can also eliminate some of the scent ant trails follow to find their food source.

Cayenne And Black Pepper

Both cayenne pepper and black pepper are an effective method and one of many home remedies to kill ants. Ants hate black and cayenne pepper.

Another effective option includes mixing some pepper with warm water and spray the resulting solution on the ants. The pepper won’t kill the ants but it sure will deter them from returning.

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Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is a great treatment plan for inside your home. Lemon juice doesn’t kill ants, but its strong smell and acid disrupts the scent trail they leave for other ants.

The next ant colony will not be able to follow any ant trails, and the citrus smell will discourage them from starting a new one. You can use this on window sills and around your kitchen sink and any place you see them.

Nematodes

Three ants on a dew covered leaf
Use nematodes the natural enemies of ants to get rid of your ant problem

When looking to get rid of ants naturally, don’t forget predators. Nematodes and ants are natural enemies. These microscopic creatures enter their bodies and release bacteria that can kill ants in 24 to 48 hours.

However, you need to make sure to use nematodes that are not plant-parasitic so they won’t damage your crops. 

Diatomaceous Earth                  

Food-grade diatomaceous earth is made from the shells of fossilized diatoms. It contains sharp granules that can penetrate the bodies of ants and cause them to die of dehydration in two weeks.

Ground Cinnamon

An ant crawling on a log
There’s no need to run out to the store you probably all ready have what you need in your pantry

If you’re just looking to repel them and not kill them, you can sprinkle ground cinnamon around your garden beds. They won’t cross this barrier and will likely look for other places to build their nest.

Alternatively, you can use ground-up chalk to keep them away from your garden.

Hopefully these solution will help you Get Rid Of Ants Naturally in your yard and garden. Do you have any more tips? Please share them in the comments below.

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Are you having an issue with ants in your yard or garden?  Are you looking for ways to get rid of ants naturally?  If so, click through to learn how, now...
How You Can Get Rid Of Ants Naturally

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Hi! I'm Dian, a wife of 20+ years, Mom to 4 grown kids, and "Nana" to 5. I LOVE reality shows & vegetable gardening & talking about both. I am currently pursuing my Master Gardener Certification.... Read more about Dian & Learning To Grow Your Own Food.

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