Ants are quite useful insects with their own social structures. The small hymenoptera are particularly helpful in the garden when disposing of dead animals or other insects. At the same time, they loosen the soil, use their buildings to help shift the upper layers of earth and, last but not least, help break down dead plants. On the other hand, there are also species of ants that live in symbiosis with the harmful aphids.
If the ants in your garden are an aggressive species of ants, multiply quickly and uncontrollably or even force their way into your house, you should resort to reliable and natural home remedies to keep the tiny intruders away.
Countermeasure: Sealing
If there are already ants in your apartment or house, it is important that you first carefully seal all food and possible entrances to prevent further insects from entering. You should always store your food in the refrigerator or in sealed containers. It is also advisable to never leave your pets' food left open and to clean the food containers at regular intervals. Tip: Many pet stores and online sell inexpensive, lockable feeding bowls that can minimize the risk of ant infestation.
In addition, you can seal the cracks in the window sill or door frame with silicone or clay, among other things, to prevent further penetration. A chalk line in front of your house or garden door is particularly useful, as it represents an insurmountable obstacle for the small insects. Of course, the chalk line must be renewed again and again so that it retains its effect. However, if colonies of ants have gathered in your home and built a nest, there is usually no way around calling in professional pest control.
Plants against ants
Like many insects, ants cannot stand strong-smelling plants and for this reason they avoid them. The plants fern, lavender, chervil and lemon herb make their stay particularly uncomfortable for the ants. According to experts, the fern is particularly useful in practice, as the herb is most effective at confusing the ants' sense of direction and thus preventing any reproduction. The fern also has the effect of fighting the aphids bred by the ants. If you suspect aphids in your garden, it is helpful if you spray your potted plants on the terrace with home-made fern broth.
Tip:
Aphids prefer to attack weak and sick plants instead of he althy plants. The bracken broth protects your plants, so the lice inevitably have to settle somewhere else. By the way, you can find bracken in the forest and you can access the corresponding recipe for the broth on the Internet with just a few mouse clicks.
However, if you do not want to use any of the plants mentioned in your garden, place lavender flowers or juniper leaves near the ant hole or on the ant trails instead. This usually results in the Hymenoptera voluntarily choosing a different habitat.
Relocate ants
If there is an ant nest in the immediate vicinity of your garden, you can relocate it yourself. To do this, place wood shavings in an empty flower pot and turn the flower pot upside down onto an ant hole. The ants will build a nest in it and may get caught in the dense wood wool, as it reflects an optimal ant structure for them. If there are numerous ants in the flower pot, pick up the flower pot and take it with the wood shavings to a place of your choice where the insects won't bother you.
Flooding
If relocating the ants seems too complicated for you, you can easily flood selected ant hills. This task is particularly easy if the nest is in a flower pot or flower box that has already been created. Submerge the anthill or containers containing the anthills repeatedly until the ant colonies have drowned or found a new nesting site.
Floor
If you want to prevent ants from appearing on your patio or walkways in your garden in the future, you should design the floor so that it is not suitable as a nesting place for the insects. If you want to prevent ants on your sidewalks, it is a good idea to avoid using paving sand as a bed for the paving stones. Instead, you can use bas alt chippings as a basis for the paving stones laid out on the terrace and walkways.
Anttrap
If you want to eliminate the ants in your garden, you can set up an ant trap in which the ants will perish. All you need is a small bowl or a flat plate in which you mix stale beer with sugar. You then place the flat container near an ant nest or an ant trail. The insects are attracted to the beer sugar mixture and end up drowning in it.
Tip:
Instead of the beer mixture, you can also use honey or raspberry water as well as diluted sweet liqueur or syrup to lure the pests into your deadly trap.
The traps mentioned here are biologically harmless ant traps. Chemical bait traps are more effective because the attractants of such traps are usually combined with an insecticide such as “Spinosad”, which the ants carry into their burrow after coming into contact with the trap and then fight the entire population. However, if you have children or attach great importance to a chemically safe garden, you should avoid such poisonous clubs.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I plant lavender to combat ants?
Lavender can be planted in many places in the garden as long as it is exposed to sufficient climatic heat. It thrives primarily in nutrient-poor and water-permeable soils. In winter it is advisable to place the lavender in flower tubs or pots in a winter garden or a greenhouse.
Can I safely use lemongrass in the garden?
Lemongrass is a sensitive plant. It should be kept protected from rain all year round and planted in a warm place. Above all, the soil should be permeable to water and rich in nutrients. This plant also needs to be kept in a winter garden or greenhouse in the winter.
More home remedies for fighting ants
In addition to the chemical club, there are also numerous home remedies that can help with an ant infestation. Especially those who have small children or pets prefer to use such products before going to the hardware store and using chemical ant killers such as ant repellent and ant spray or ant bait.
- Cigarette brew: Nicotine is not only poison for humans, ants can't absorb it well either. For this purpose, the cigarette butts are diligently collected. If you have a few together, pour boiling water over them and let this brew stand for a few days. After about 3 days, pour the brown liquid onto the ant nests or sprinkle it generously onto the ant trails.
- Chalk lines: Other helpful remedies include chalk, honey, sugar, or sugar paired with yeast. You can use a chalk line to prevent the ants from climbing the walls. The chalk line (in the shape of a circle) also helps if you draw it around an ant trap. The chalk line represents a kind of barrier that the ants cannot cross.
- Sugar water with yeast: The best way to kill ants is a mixture of sugar water with yeast in it. The ants love sweets, quickly attack the sweet temptation and die thanks to the yeast supplement. When exterminating ants, however, you should remember that not all types of ants should be destroyed.
Note:
The wood ant, for example, is protected and must not be destroyed under any circumstances!
