Texas is home to numerous species of ants, thus can be the most difficult pests to rid from your home, garden or lawn. Ant infestations in your yard can wreak havoc on plant life and leave unsightly mounds in your lawn or garden. There two methods by which to resolve your ant problem, by extermination or prevention.
Natural and organic solutions are safest when getting rid of ants in your yard because they are nontoxic and less damaging to plant life than industrial chemical options. Click here to visit our service page for insect control.
Extermination Options
- Diatomaceous earth: Is basically crushed and powdered seashells. Place throughout your yard, and pour it in the ants’ nests. Wear a dust mask during application. Diatomaceous earth kills ants by suffocating them and drying their body’s moisture.
- Farina & Corn Meal: Using raw goods, such as farina, or corn meal with also kill the ants by expanding internally, thus killing them and the queen.
- Soap and Canola Oil: The combination of soap suds and oil enters their exoskeleton, incapacitating them, and suffocating them. Make a solution by combining 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap, 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil and 1 quart water. Spray areas with high concentrations of ants and pour the solution into their nests.
- Vinegar: The acid in the vinegar kills the ants on contact, as their bodies cannot tolerate low-pH, acidic conditions. Pour or spray a solution of 1 quart of white distilled vinegar with a 5 percent concentration in the ants’ nests.
- Soap and Cayenne Pepper: Mix together 3 tablespoons cayenne pepper sauce, 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap and 1 quart of water using a whisk in a mixing bowl. Add the solution to a spray bottle and apply it to the ants and pour it into the nests. The soap and capsicum in the cayenne pepper sauce exterminates the ants by smothering and burning them.
- For North DFW – Contact Ryno Lawn Care or get a quote for a 1 year residual treatment. Our product kills fire ants, fleas and ticks using the top choice all-in-one solution.
Prevention
- Ants thrive in areas of stressed plants and soil. Keeping your lawn and soil healthy will deter invading ants.
- Crushed red pepper flakes and dehydrated peppermint works well when applied to your lawn. Spraying peppermint oil, on ant trails and ant hills also irritates the ants, forcing them to relocate.
- Distribute orange or cucumber peels around your lawn, focusing on areas that see a lot of ant traffic. The peels contain naturally occurring compounds toxic to the fungi on which ants feed, forcing them to look elsewhere for food.
- Relocate compost piles, trash bins and organic waste as far from your lawn as possible.
Instead of using dangerous chemical products that can harm your children and pets, use natural remedies. There are many natural ways, to get rid of ants. Items detailed in this article are easy to find at your local grocery store or lawn and garden center for Diatomaceous earth.
4 Responses
This is really helpful! I actually have an ant problem in my kitchen right now, I think I am going to try the crushed red pepper flakes on my counter.
Holy cow, the soap and cayenne pepper approach really works. After Katrina hit in 2005, we started seeing terrible fire ant beds everywhere in all the lawns we were cutting, and so had to incorporate ant control into our lawn care services. For those who didn’t like the idea of using chemicals, we used steaming hot water, soap, and cayenne pepper and poured it all over the ant beds while we poked holes deep into the roots of it. It got everywhere but it absolutely got the job done. No more ants!
I love all of this information and they are so simple and easy to implement! Thank you.
Very informative blog and really Ants (Termites) are a major threat to homes. So if you’re concerned about termites in your home, talk to Competitive Pest Control Services, the experts in termite pest control.