Ants

9 years ago

This year there seems to be quite a few ant holes, mainly along the perimiter of the grass and sidewalk, although some visable in the lawn and some right in the middle of the sidewalk.

I've been using the those ant baits that are supossed to kill the colony, but I still see ants.

Any suggestions?

Featured Answer

krnuttle

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Ants are a fact of life. To lower their presence in your yard you have to continually kill each ant mound. Eventually you will see less and less.

To be really effective you must get your neighbors to attack the ants with the same diligence. They do not respect man made property lines. In fact with the neighbors approval I have applied ant killer to some mounds in the neighbors lot close to my lot line. I would not object if they did likewise.

I have several different areas in my yard. I am as likely to see the ants in natural wooded areas of the lot as in the grass area and flower beds. If you get the mounds soon enough there should be no damage. If not the mound may destroy the grass in that area. One thing you want to watch is that some ants not termites, can destroy tree roots and kill the tree, so you want to treat those mounds also.

A tool that I use is the orange flags on wires that you see on construction and similar sites. I carry a bunch on my mower, and when I see a mound while mowing, i put a flag in it. After I am done I apply ant killer to the mound (Amdro, BASF, etc) and retrieve that flag. I suspect the neighbors wonder why there are sometime many orange flags in my yard.

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Comments (8)

User
9 years ago
Ignore them?
Joe BigBlue
Original Author
9 years ago
Lol....yes, well I don't want any damage to the grass.....
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User
9 years ago
Taurus SC will give you good control of ants.
Joe BigBlue thanked User
dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
From what I see, ants are a signal that an area is neglected.

Water deeply and infrequently.

Mow most grasses at the mower's highest setting. If you have bermuda, centipede, or creeping bent, then mow at the lowest setting.

Fertilize with organic fertilizer at least once. The sooner the better.
Randy Man
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I cant stand ants.I have been fighting the battle for years(have over 1 acre)..They build those big mounds that make your grass look bad.All the fire ant killers they sell at home depot and lowes does no good(the colony just moves to another area).I just take a water hose and spray on the mound when I see one. It does the same thing those fire ant killers do without the $20 price tag .It also packs the dirt back down making it look decent again
Joe BigBlue thanked Randy Man
dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
Ants in the lawn are not a fact of life for me. This is my second house in the country and I haven't had a problem in the yard at all.

Now let's talk inside the house. When the weather is really bad (drought) I will get sugar ants in the house. I suppose they must be living outside the rest of the time, but I never see them. They are hard enough to see in the house.
krnuttle
9 years ago
The desert is too dry for ants to survive ;-) Come to the Piedmont in Carolina, you will have all of the ants you can handle.