Fighting ants in the garden. Fighting garden ants with folk remedies

Our ancestors knew how to deal with ants in a house or apartment. Effective recipes continue to be used to kill pests along with professional insecticides. The fight against ants in the apartment is carried out by scaring away or attracting.

Ways and methods of struggle

With home remedies, you can expel pests from the premises, destroy them with poisonous bait, and catch them with traps. Means of dealing with ants are selected based on the size of the ant family, personal preferences.

Repellents protect the house from the settlement of pests, expel those who have already settled. For the fight, plants with a rich aroma, strongly smelling substances are used.
used to poison insects, destruction. Boric acid, borax copes with domestic ants. It is mixed into edible products, offered to insects. The bait must have a strong aroma so that pests can quickly find it. For an effective fight, you need to lay out the product in places where ants were seen, along the trajectory of their movement.
The fight against ants in the house is carried out with the help. They are made from adhesive double sided tape, water. These methods of control reduce the number of insects. Deprive residents of food supplies. Since it is for them that working individuals go to the message.

On a note!
The most effective fight involves a combination of several methods, ways.

scare away

Ants in their activities are guided by smell. With the help of smell, they find food, inform others about it, warn of danger, remember the trajectory, find a pair for mating. A constant pungent smell disrupts the normal rhythm of life, confusing the insect.

When a strong-smelling agent is placed near the nest, the anthill leaves the place of residence, all individuals leave behind it. The presence of aroma in the room does not allow new colonies to settle, which prevents re-infection, the settlement of other types of pests.

pharmaceutical camomile;
peppermint;
elder;
sagebrush;
tansy;
calendula;
parsley.

In a private house for struggle, plants are laid out in bunches around the entire perimeter. You can use a dry potion, a fresh plant. Periodically costs protective agent renew, because it works as long as the persistent room fragrance lasts. If possible, bushes of parsley, mint, yellow calendula are planted around the house, creating an invisible protective wall.

Vegetables unpleasant for ants:

garlic;
tomatoes;
pepper.

You can fight with pepper, scattering it around the perimeter of the house, along the trajectory of insects. Spicy pepper irritates paws, makes pests run away.

The members of the ant society simply cannot stand the smell of garlic, tomato tops and onions. Funds are crushed or laid out in their original form. Arrows of garlic rub walls, window sills, skirting boards, doors.

On a note!
Deals with small ants. Its persistent strong smell is pleasant to humans, drives ants crazy, forcing them to run wherever their eyes look.

Substances with a strong odor:

vinegar;
ammonia.

Prepare a solution by adding the selected ingredient to water. Means wash a floor, window sills, wipe furniture, plinths. To create a greater concentration of aroma, put saucers with the selected ingredient, moisten the cotton wool.

Destruction of ants with boric acid

Folk remedies not only repel insects, but also attract for the purpose of further destruction. If it was possible to find an ant nest, it is poured with boiling water, in hard-to-reach places injected with a syringe.

Boric acid is used as a poisoning agent. An odorless substance is not attractive to insects, but adding it to a fragrant edible bait can kill pests.

On a note!
It starts working when it gets inside. A large amount of it enters the esophagus with food, a certain proportion from the paws. The ant tries to clean the abdomen, licks the poison. Death occurs after the accumulation of a certain dose in the body of the insect.

Boric acid bait

Prepared in several versions:

sugar is mixed with the active ingredient, left on a saucer;
boric acid is added to honey, droplets are dripped along the trajectory of ants;
mix poison with any jam;
rub berries with poison;
soften cookies in milk, add boric acid.

The bait must be renewed as it is eaten, thoroughly every week. As the smell disappears over time, the consistency is lost. The substance loses interest in the eyes of the ant.

Solution

Ant control products are used to treat the premises. Boric acid is added to water. One sachet is dissolved in 3 liters of water. Pour into a spray bottle, treat skirting boards, window sills, floors, furniture, pour into narrow cracks, pest nests.

Traps

Vaseline, chalk impede the movement of insects. The first substance leads to sticking, the second - deprives tenacity, ants cannot climb up, fall.

With their own hands they make simple designs that allow you to protect the table, food from annoying ants, until the poison finally takes effect.

paste along the baseboards, double-sided tape on the windowsill;
pour water into a glass up to half, drip honey;
leave saucers with water.

A small house pest can not only annoy with its constant presence, but also reduce the strength of the building, because over time it turns the tree into dust. If folk recipes did not bring the desired result, it is necessary to use chemical preparations.

Ants are small insects of various kinds that are beneficial, but not always welcome in garden plots. Only red wood ants are welcome. They are so effective in killing insect pests that they are specially planted in summer cottages. Ants are highly intelligent and can live anywhere. The life of this insect lasts only a year.

Garden ants do not bring benefits, but only harm. The fight against garden ants never stops, and there are very weighty arguments for this.

main reason, for which the fight against garden ants is needed - this is aphids. They are bred by ants on the tops of young shoots. Aphids are considered the most dangerous garden pest, causing enormous damage to fruit and berry crops.

Ornamental plants after the attack of aphids lose their attractive appearance, a fruit crops may even lose their crops. Ants carefully protect it from various predators and from time to time transfer it to new young shoots, which leads to complete infection of the plant. With the onset of autumn, they take it to their nests and will wait for the onset of spring to start all over again.

Many effective remedies have been invented against aphids, but everything will be in vain if ants live in the garden plot. As soon as the plant recovers, aphids will appear on it again. Ants need liquidate completely otherwise they will destroy the entire crop.

The soil is gradually saturated with acidity if these insects live in it. This is very bad for the growth and development of plants. They can build their anthills right fruit bushes which reflects badly on them.

Numerous detachments of ants like to eat berries, vegetables and root crops, which contain sugar in large quantities.

These insects like to collect nectar from the surface of the peony bud, but at the same time they gnaw on the sepals and petals for a more active release of juice. As a result, unopened buds begin to dry out, and if it blooms, the flower will look very ugly. In addition, ants can significantly spoil the landscape of the garden.

It is very difficult to get rid of garden ants, because their number can be truly huge, and the underground passages of an anthill can reach several kilometers. In addition, they are very multiply intensively. They are able to create new nests every week.

None of the means of struggle is completely effective, be it pesticides, homemade poison or the destruction of an anthill, and their numbers will quickly recover. It is possible to completely eliminate these insects, only by destroying the uterus.

The uterus is the main among ants. Its main task is to lay as many eggs as possible and grow full-fledged offspring from them. New queens grow in it, which, in adulthood, leave their home and form new anthills.

The majority of these insects are worker ants. They breed aphids. It is useless to destroy them, because the uterus will reproduce them again. And everything will start again. Getting to the uterus is very difficult, it is located deep in the anthill. If it is destroyed, then it is not a fact that she will die. She can move to another place and create a new anthill.

Ways to deal with garden ants

Fighting ants is very difficult because of their a large number, but still possible.

There are two main ways:

Don't let them up the tree.
Eliminate the anthill with the help of modern chemicals.

Other methods are less efficient.

How to keep ants out of a tree

If this method of struggle is chosen, then it is worth considering that in this case the anthill is not destroyed, but only created barrier for ants. This is a pretty efficient method.

The following methods are used to protect a tree or shrub from an ant invasion:

Creating a water barrier:

This method is more suitable for protection ornamental and berry crops. To create a water barrier, use car tire. It is necessary to cut it along the tread into two halves, then pass it through the bush and dig it in with earth so that the edges protrude slightly above the soil.

It is not always possible to pass a tire through a sprawling bush. Therefore, half of the tire is cut in one place, placed around the bush and the joint is sealed. Water is poured into the moat and a barrier for the ants is created.

Foil skirt:

The foil must be wrapped around the trunk in such a way that a skirt with sharp edges is obtained. The penetration of ants through the sharp edges of the foil is excluded.

Adhesive (trapping) belts:

An adhesive belt is wrapped around a tree trunk and secured with a rope. It saves not only from ants, but also from other creeping pests that can cause significant damage to leaves, buds and flowers of plants.

The glue is not poisonous, does not dry out and is not afraid of any moisture. Insects either stick tightly to the belt, or turn around and crawl back. Such a belt is attached to tree trunks at a height of 60–80 centimeters from the ground. At the end of winter, the old belt is replaced with a new one to prevent young caterpillars from crawling to the top of the tree.

Modern means against ants

The anthill is a large structure that has complex branches and goes to great depths underground. Millions of insects live in it, obeying a strict hierarchy.

It is completely useless to use contact insecticides to combat them, they destroy only workaholic ants that live on the surface and get food, and the larvae and the queen are securely hidden deep underground. The only way to destroy them all together is to use food poison baits and gels.

The poisoned bait is designed in such a way that it begins to have a detrimental effect on the ants only after a long period of time, when the hard workers bring food to the larvae and the queen and feed them. If the larvae and the queen die, then the anthill will end. Such bait is laid out around the anthill, on trails and other places where they exist. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the weather, it should be dry and calm.

gentle means

If the summer cottage is not heavily attacked by ants, there is no possibility or desire to use poisonous substances, you can use gentle means of struggle with these insects.

To destroy the anthill, it must be periodically watered with boiling water or sprinkled with hot ash. This procedure is recommended to be carried out in the evening, when all the ants are in their home. Perform it every day until they are all dead. Experienced gardeners also recommend treating anthills with bitter ground pepper, slaked lime, vegetable oil with garlic.

Folk remedies

Many gardeners use garlic as an ant control. They hate the smell of his essential oils. The garlic cloves must be crushed to essential oils activated. These smart insects can easily drag the garlic away, so it is better to use an infusion of garlic, which is poured over the entire anthill.

The following herbs are used to fight ants:

A solution is made from them, with which an anthill is poured or the dried leaves of these plants are laid out in their habitats.

A decoction of tomato tops is also considered very a good remedy and the more concentrated it is, the better.

Ants do not like the smell of cinnamon. If it is crushed and sprinkled on the places where they live, this will force them to leave the garden plot. Processing is carried out in dry weather, but even if it rains, cinnamon will still smell for a long time, scaring away insects.

Sprinkle salt on the anthill and all their locations.

You can get rid of garden ants with their forest brothers who do not digest them. Wood ants are very aggressive and crowd out all other species. You just need to collect them in a bag and pour them onto an anthill in the garden. Forest insects are harmless to garden plants.

Although ants secrete organic acid, they themselves cannot tolerate any acids. It is necessary to water the anthill with it daily and after a while they will disappear from the site.

Boric acid with sugar syrup is also a popular way to fight. An anthill is watered with it. Sugar syrup attracts ants with its sweet taste, while boric acid kills them. You can use honey or jam instead of syrup.

It is also enough to loosen the habitat of these insects and pour boiling water over them. For greater effect this method is repeated several times.

The following method eliminates these insects very well. Take a bucket of water for 10 liters, two glasses of any shampoo, 2 glasses vegetable oil and one liter of vinegar. All ingredients are mixed and sprayed with a sprayer into the recess, which must be made on the anthill. Then cover it with a dark film for 72 hours. Three days later, everyone is dead.

Too good folk way. Take 400 grams laundry soap, previously soaked in warm water, two tablespoons of carbolic acid and 10 tablespoons of kerosene. All this is thoroughly mixed and poured into an anthill. Only three waterings - and there are no ants.

Highly unusual way to eliminate ants is to sprinkle an anthill with dry millet or semolina, for some reason the ants do not like them and leave.

Of course, many folk recipes are used, but still they do not give a 100% guarantee that they will help get rid of these insects. Only effective modern chemicals.

How to get rid of house and garden ants in folk ways?

How can folk remedies help in the fight against house and garden ants?

Ants can cause a number of problems:

at home, they violate their usual life, breed unsanitary conditions and spoil food;
aphids are bred in the garden, which destroy the plantings and threaten the death of the crop.

At the same time used for pest control chemical compounds toxic not only to insects, but also to humans. Despite the fact that manufacturers are trying to reduce the danger of their drugs to human health and life, the risks remain, in some cases they are high, especially when we are talking about children, older people, and those who are prone to allergies. Do not forget about pets: overly curious, they can lick, inhale insecticide and get complications.

repel ants;
destroy them;
create protective, preventive barriers.

Attention! In some cases, the use of "natural" methods is more preferable: for example, to destroy garden ants and the aphids bred by them for the reason that chemical preparations along the way of persecution of the arthropods themselves can cause serious harm to the soil.

But we must immediately say that experts do not recommend completely abandoning specialized insecticides: they are considered more effective means compared with folk ways. An optimally balanced combination of both methods with strict adherence to the instructions for use and safety recommendations.

Fighting house ants

All existing folk recipes for scaring away and eliminating arthropods are based on accounting natural features this class of insects.

Treat with a soapy solution the surfaces where individuals were seen, including hard-to-reach and dark places.
Preparing the mixture is easy: mix 1 tsp liquid soap in 500 ml warm water. This solution is good at destroying pheromone traces, which pests navigate, find their way to food and back to the shelter.

Attention! Soap kills the arthropods themselves, so this simple remedy can be poured into a spray bottle and sprayed with insects and indicated places.

Another way to kill ant pheromones for workers is to treat potential travel sites with coffee grounds. A strong smell will confuse the pests, preventing them from returning back to the anthill. In addition, caffeine is a poison for them.

Boric acid - one of the best substances from ants

It must be remembered that by itself this compound does not attract arthropods, therefore it must be mixed with other components.

To prepare the solution you will need:

10 gr. boric acid;
100 gr. Sahara;
500 ml of water.

Instead of sugar or with it, you can use honey, jam, jelly.

The mixture should be poured into small saucers, which should be placed in places where insects are most common.

This will lead to the fact that the pests will reorient themselves to an attractive and easily accessible source of "food". Workers will eat up, take the solution to the anthill and feed other individuals. They do this by exchanging semi-digested food. Thus, the poison will disperse throughout the family, quickly destroying arthropods.

Residents may notice that in the early days the concentration of ants in the house may increase, but this is temporary: soon the population will quickly decline, and when the queen is destroyed, it will die out altogether.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

the bait remains effective for 2-3 days, after which the solution must be prepared again;
the poisonous solution may attract pets if present. Accordingly, saucers should be placed in places where pets do not have access;
boric acid is dangerous to human health. It is necessary to follow safety rules and protect children from getting substances into the body.

The following poison bait recipes can be distinguished:

mix well chopped meat, boric acid and some salt. Divide the mixture into small pieces, which are spread out where arthropods were seen. They love meat and will gladly bring food to the nursery.
Boil three eggs each (use only the yolks) and potatoes, make mashed potatoes from these components. Pour a package of boric acid and 1 tsp of sugar into it. Mix everything thoroughly, make a lot of small balls, which are put along the paths of movement of pests.
Mix jam, boric acid and a package of yeast. The resulting mixture thin layer smear on small saucers, which are installed in the kitchen and in the rooms where arthropods pass. This is a very effective tool that will help literally destroy the colony in 7-10 days.

Other ways to persecute domestic ants

Among other products that are poisonous to pests, we can distinguish:

chamomile officinalis - scatter the grass in a thin layer in different places;
create a trap of water and honey: make a solution and pour it into glasses, which are placed in places where insects are concentrated. They will climb, fall into the water and drown;
water, honey, sugar, glycerin, borax. Mix these components in equal amounts, spread the resulting solution into rooms where arthropods were seen.

There are many remedies that are used to repel ants. They do not like too harsh and strong aromas, and this feature is used to create protective barriers against the penetration of pests. The following products will help as preventive measure- prevent the appearance of unwanted "neighbors", and used at the beginning of the infection will force them to look for another home.

You can create barriers with the help of natural substances that will protect your home from "invasion". To do this, you need to create continuous barrier lines 5-7 mm wide from:

activated carbon (in powder form);
turmeric;
chili pepper;
vinegar essence;
cinnamon;
vaseline;
silicate gel or powders that absorb moisture;
chalk. You can use special insecticides, poisonous crayons, you can learn more about this here: "How can insecticidal crayons help protect your home from house ants?" .

Attention! These barriers will only be effective if applied in the right places.

Suitable for scaring:

These insects living in garden plots cannot be called only pests, they improve the composition of the soil, destroy insects that only harm cultivated plants, and maintain a balance in the ecosystem.

And yet, they can bring serious harm due to the fact that aphids are bred. Arthropods love the sweet honeydew secreted by aphids that feed on plant sap. If an anthill appears on a garden plot, aphids will soon entangle the plantings, which threatens to dry out the plants and kill the crop.

Find anthills and sprinkle them liberally baking soda. This will force the inhabitants to leave unsuitable housing and equip a new one in another place.

Make a solution from:

50 ml of shampoo;
100 ml of vinegar essence;
500 ml of vegetable oil;
10 liters of water.

Make a hole in the nest through which to pour the mixture.

Mix 1 part ammonia and 100 parts of water, water the plants with this solution, and even better - treat the anthill. This method will eliminate ants and enrich the soil with nitrogen compounds, which is necessary for a good harvest.

Mix 10 tablespoons of kerosene with 10 liters of water, pour the resulting mixture into the nest.

Advice. Any operations with an anthill are best done in the evening, when all individuals return to their home.

The boric acid recipes described in the section above are also suitable for killing garden ants.

To protect plants from aphids and pest visits will help:

adhesive tapes. Tie tree trunks with special tapes into which insects will simply get stuck. You can also use garlic, which will repel pests;
ladybugs. They actively eat aphids and solve two problems: they protect plants and deprive ants of food, as you know, some insect species feed only on aphids.

You can attract ladybugs with the help of the smells of tansy, yarrow and others. composite plants, as well as dill, elderberry.

Folk recipes allow you to get rid of harmful ants effectively and safely for human health. Despite the presence of powerful modern insecticides, ancient methods are still in use and bring their results. The information in this article will help each person protect their home and garden, save themselves and their families from the unpleasant consequences of "cohabitation" with pests.

For gardeners, perhaps one of the most important questions is how to get rid of ants in the garden. Even at the end of the question they add the word - forever. That's how tired! Garden black ants are perhaps the second big garden nuisance after weeds. As you know, forest ants are our friends, and we unjustifiably aggressively treat garden ants as enemies. For many, ants in the garden - headache, worries about the harvest. Each of us wants to know some simple, effective recipe how to get rid of.

But, unfortunately, there is no universal recipe, there is a set of tools and methods that will help reduce their number to a minimum, take them away from those garden and garden places where their presence is undesirable.

Aphids on a gooseberry branch, how to get rid of

Ants in the garden and garden - features of existence

We really treat black garden ants as garden pests. They don't build anthills. Their habitat can be seen by small holes.

Garden anthill in the country - entrance

In summer, these insects begin to feed on the sweet secretions of aphids. Together with aphids, they form some kind of community. The black garden ant protects aphids from various enemies. And she has a lot of enemies. From ladybugs to small birds who are also not averse to eating aphids. Of course, the ants will not drive the bird away, but ladybug- that's what they can do. If you're lucky, you can see how together they push the ladybug out of the aphid-covered twig.

In our gardens, greenhouses, ants and aphids are usually inseparable. Lately there are a lot of aphids like weeds, cultivated plants too. The aphid sucks the juice from the leaves, stems of plants, causing this great harm future harvest, and she secretes a sweet milk that attracts ants. There are ants where there are a lot of aphids.

Of course, the gardener receives the main damage from aphids. But ants carry aphids, their eggs on garden plants, drive away from aphids those predatory insects that feed on the aphids themselves. Therefore, if nothing is done, aphids will multiply quickly. And the ants only need this - the "pastures" are increasing, they are not threatened with hunger.

If you decide to fight ants, then it will be impossible to do this without paying attention to aphids, depriving them of ants forage base. I warn you right away that it is not possible and not necessary to completely defeat the black garden inhabitants. But to reduce their number, in parallel to reduce the risk of damage to our plants by aphids - this is within our power.

There are many ways to do this.

Fighting ants in the garden - preparations, methods and means

Chemical preparations and remedies for garden ants

There are chemicals that help to remove ants, for example, Muracid, Anteater, Delicia powder, from which aqueous solutions are prepared, they are watered with places where insects accumulate. Paste products Clean house, Great warrior, others spread it on top of cardboard, planks, lay them out where they saw the greatest accumulation of goosebumps.

There are various sticky paper or plastic traps for them. These methods are quite effective, but they are not very long term actions. After 2-3 weeks they decompose. And annoying insects can reappear in the same place.

Any gardener should understand that ants are like an indicator of the presence of aphids on plants. They will leave their chosen places when there are no aphids. And if there is no food, there is nothing to eat. Therefore, it is advised to simultaneously use drugs against aphids - Bison, Confidor-Extra, Decis-Profi, Tanrek, Biotlin, Alatar, BI-58, others. But the solution of these drugs, getting on the leaves with aphid secretions, makes them poisonous also for ants. Eating them, they die. If you regularly carry out such treatments, then there will be no aphids. But there will be no ants in these areas either.

Fighting garden ants with folk remedies, baits

There are many folk remedies. For example, flooding burrows, anthill passages with boiling water. The black garden ant is not very fond of ash or the smell of crushed tomato leaves. Of course, they cannot be completely defeated in such ways, but you can drive them away from some places.

There is another way, by the way, quite effective - flooding the habitats of these insects with urine or, as they say, the contents of a chamber pot. As a rule, after such a “fragrant treatment”, insects leave this place.

There are ways to destroy poisoned baits. It's over effective ways than those described above. You can cook such baits yourself, but you should be very careful not to get poisoned.

I will tell you about some of the most effective.

To do this, we use boric acid, mix equal parts by volume with honey, or with jam, or with sugar, that is, with something sweet. I usually use a mixture of boric acid powder with granulated sugar. With this mixture I sprinkle the places of the greatest accumulation of insects. For me, these are most often trunk circles of fruit trees - they especially like to settle under pears. After a while they disappear, I think, they just leave this place.

There is another not quite usual way to drive ants away from your site. Not so long ago I learned that if ordinary dry millet or semolina then they leave this place. Scatter ordinary millet or semolina on places where insects accumulate. Why - I don’t know, but black pests are leaving. One piece of advice: so that sparrows do not peck this millet or semolina before it works, sprinkle a little dried grass, straw or foliage over the scattered cereals - this is not a hindrance for insects, and the birds will not notice.

If your area is very infested with goosebumps, it makes sense to use stronger methods of control. The goal of stronger methods is the destruction of the “ant queen”. As long as she is alive, worker ants will be on the site for sure. The "ant queen" lives underground - a depth of more than one and a half meters. It is difficult to get to it even with a shovel.

Sweet bait to get rid of ants

Sticky trap in the country

In our struggle with the "ant queen" we go two ways. The first is sweetened traps near each fruit tree or berry bush from sweet syrup or fermented beer - this is for worker ants to reduce their number. The second is protective belts made of adhesive tape, on top of which we apply a gel - poison bait. Her ants will carry inside the anthill, feed her "queen".

One of the readers of my blog wrote: “This year, the ants are somehow inadequate - they ate about 20 strawberry bushes, and the roots were eaten! I watched my strawberry for a week, not understanding what was happening to it - the leaves became salad-colored, curled up like an accordion. I dug out one bush, and there is a complete nightmare - the roots are sprayed, inside there are a lot of ant eggs. What to do?"

Yes, garden insects can sometimes arrange not only anthills on a strawberry garden, but even nests inside strawberry-strawberry bushes. Most often this leads to the death of plants. But, most likely, the reader saw not ant eggs on the roots of strawberries, but the larvae of some kind of pest. He damaged the roots. Ants are not the cause of plant death. I repeat - ants are an indicator of the presence of a pest on a plant. It is necessary to identify it and choose a way to deal with this pest.

But we, as always, are in a hurry, we need to quickly make some decision. How to help strawberries in this case? To choose a remedy or method of assistance, one must take into account at what stage of development the plants are now. In order not to attack the ants and not make them "scapegoats", hold activities that repel ants.

If your strawberries are just blooming, then you can try to place the bait all over the strawberry garden or clearing. Effective bait-traps from ordinary baker's yeast mixed with large quantity honey or sugar syrup (1 tbsp dry yeast, 1 tbsp sugar or honey). This is a detrimental treat for ants. Spread it between plants - it is better to take small containers, for example, bottle caps, or smear small pieces of cardboard with this mixture.

And if green berries are already hanging on strawberry bushes, then spray the plants with a solution of ammonia (1 tablespoon per 8 liters of water - leave for 20-30 minutes). Such a concentration will not harm the future crop, but it will drive away goosebumps, they do not like such pungent odors.

Well, if your garden already has ripe berries, then, of course, no spraying is acceptable. It can be advised to spread out in the garden, where they accumulate, branches of wormwood, mint, tansy. The ants will leave, they do not like such smells. But do not forget to update the repeller branches with more recent ones. Take more drastic measures against pests after harvest.

The use of all these simple tricks together, as a complex, will help, if not to get rid of ants in the garden forever, then significantly reduce their number to the minimum that will not interfere with us in the garden.

Ants have long and firmly taken their positions. At first glance, they are harmless and hard-working creatures, but they are quite a serious threat to the crop in the garden. And first of all, ants harm the plants on the site.

Why are ants dangerous in the area?

Ants settled on the site contribute to the emergence and further spread of aphids, which is one of the main garden pests. The aphid settles on the shoots and leaves of plants, and sucks out all the juices from them, which ultimately leads to the death of the young shoots. In addition, aphids carry viral infections that can lead to plant disease.

Ants try to protect aphids, as they produce their own favorite treat- pad, which is also called honeydew. If a huge number of ants have bred, then they are able to oppress some horticultural crops, up to eating root crops in which there is a high sugar content - for example, pumpkin or carrots will fall under their attention first of all.

Garden ants often damage the contents of the buds of flower beds, causing the death and fall of the petals, and in addition, they can even damage the lawn - so the question of how to get rid of ants is of no small importance.

Ants are able to quickly choose a country house. In addition to the remnants of food, they will not ignore electrical appliances, which is fraught with problems, up to a short circuit.

What methods against ants are preferable: folk or chemical?

Many sellers of baits and ant control products are skeptical of folk methods. Chemicals are said to be more effective and, in fact, they are the only option that can control the spread of ants. However, it makes sense to consider the following points when choosing a method of persecuting ants:

chemicals often contain components harmful to the human body,
through the leaves and root system pesticides can get into the fruits, which later fall on the table.
the use of such agents can harm not only ants, but also the vegetation on which they were applied,
if children are playing in the garden, or there are pets, there is a risk that they will use chemicals instead of ants.

Unlike chemistry, folk remedies involve the use of natural ingredients that are unable to harm both humans and vegetation upon contact with them.

All species are conditionally classified into several varieties:

repellent,
access limiters,
destruction of workers on the surface of the site,
destruction of the entire ant colony.

Repellents are primarily understood as those species that have a sharp smell for the ants to smell, which serves as a barrier to insects. The use of mint and chamomile, as well as garlic, cinnamon and elderflower, can stop ants from reaching certain areas, such as supply lockers and vegetable gardens. In addition to these remedies, simple sunflower oil also serves as an effective barrier - it is enough to apply a thin strip on the desired surface, and the ants will not dare to cross it.

Access restrictors mean a container for storing food or other things that can be hermetically sealed. In addition, it is possible to install limiters in the garden, for example, on trees. In this case, strips of foil or polyethylene, wrapped around the circumference of the tree trunk in the form of a strip, and fixed with adhesive tape or twine, will act as their role. Ants will not be able to get over the foil, and polyethylene is recommended to be lubricated with a layer of non-drying glue. Such a solution is often called a "trapping belt" and is characterized by ease of manufacture and its effectiveness. The installation of a water barrier, which will also act as an ordinary car tire cut in half, will help limit access to shrubs. It is put on a bush and deepened into the ground, after which it is filled with water. In the event that the base of the bush has big sizes, then several tires are used, which are cut into pieces and create a barrier base of any diameter, which is later sealed.

The destruction of workers in particular involves the periodic persecution of ants that are on the surface of the site. Since more than 90% of the individuals are constantly inside the anthill, this method can bring some benefit, but nevertheless, it should be considered as an auxiliary tool in the fight against ants. Typically used various types baited traps capable of luring and destroying workers.

It is the complete destruction of the entire colony of ants that can stop the spread of pests throughout the site. Most chemists specialize in just that. However, there are also simple effective methods how to breed an ant colony without the use of pesticides.

Ways to remove ants on the site

There are a significant number of ways to get ants out of the area. But, in order for the fight to be really effective, you need to use a clear strategy.

First of all, it is necessary to get rid of aphids, which serve for ants as a kind of domestic cow for humans. It has been repeatedly noticed that ants "grow" aphids, feeding and placing them on young shoots if possible. Get rid of it with the help of simple solutions, which are sprayed on areas affected by aphids. For example, an insecticide called Aktara is suitable for these purposes, which is distinguished by a long protective period of 3 to 9 weeks, depending on the method of application, and also by the fact that, in addition to aphids, it can effectively destroy over a hundred species of other major pests of agricultural crops. The cost of the drug is $ 1.5 per sachet weighing 6 g, which is enough to prepare 6 liters ready solution. After insecticide treatment, the aphid dies within a few hours, and the plant itself long time protected from pests.
Physical destruction of anthills by digging the soil, after which they must be shed with boiling water to kill the larvae, as well as with a solution of carbolic acid or flax, when 30 g is used per 1 liter of water linseed oil and 5 g of soda. After filling with water, the anthill must be covered with ash or quicklime.

The use of traps and baits. Hunting belts, dressed on trees, will be a great way to protect a tree from an invasion of ants. Chemical baits are able to lure ants, but their effectiveness is debatable - since they are hit by a small number of worker ants, while the queen remains underground. Offered a significant amount folk methods for bait and destruction of ants, which need to be considered and determine their effectiveness:
- Biologists recommend the most humane way is to cover the discovered anthill with a bucket. After some time, the ants form an elevation inside the bucket, which must then be dug out with a shovel and taken outside the site. If necessary, the ground under the anthill is also dug up to carry away the larvae. The method is aimed at protecting the ants and continuing their life, but it is worth remembering that often the depth of the uterus is 1.5 m, sometimes more. It turns out that you need to dig up enough earth to install a lighting pole and still not get to the queen, in which case she will quickly produce new worker ants.
- It is known that ants do not tolerate strong odors. Amateur gardeners recommend putting the head of a smoked herring on the anthill, but it is important to note that in open areas and when exposed to sunlight, the decomposed repeller will cause discomfort to the owners of the site. In addition, this method is quite controversial, since it will attract flies, and often ants perceive such signs of attention as a source of food sent from above. But the very statement about pungent odors is true, ants do not tolerate the smell sunflower oil, garlic and mint, so it is advisable to treat plants with a solution of them. It does not make sense to lay out garlic cloves, the ants will simply carry away the source of the unpleasant smell away from their anthill.
- Pouring boiling water inside the anthill. The easiest way, really distinguished by its effectiveness. Filling must be done several times, with plenty of water. It is important to remember that if the anthill is located in close proximity to the plants, then boiling water can damage their root system, which will lead to illness and possible death,
- Sweet baits. As a rule, they are based on honey or jam, on which ants flock abundantly. An inefficient method, since in this case only worker ants will fall into them, the number of which will not pose a threat to the rest of the anthill.
- Meat bait and old bones. They act on the principle of sweet baits, but differ in the same weak degree of usefulness. In addition to that bad smell will bring more inconvenience than benefit.
- Sprinkling the surface of the anthill with semolina or corn grits. It is claimed that digestive system ants are not able to cope with the grits, and they will die. Practice has shown the weak effectiveness of the method.
- Often there is a recommendation to “settle new neighbors”, namely large red ants, which must be caught in the forest. It is claimed that the red ants will eat the black ones and then leave as they feed on the living and they will have nothing to eat. But if you look at the nature of ants, then you should be skeptical about this method. Red ants also feed on the remains and secretions from aphids, invertebrates and plant juices that they can find on the site. In addition, those cottages that are located close to the forest often have red ants on their territory. Whoever likes to visit - he does not aspire home. This saying well justifies the behavior of ants, since they feel quite free in apartment conditions, not to mention suburban area. If red ants are settled, the problem of their subsequent eviction will become just as relevant. Since colonies are often vast anthills in which thousands, and in some cases several million ants live their lives, it is difficult to imagine that a hundred or two red ants carefully caught in the forest are able to cope with the "local" without becoming another food or captives, since ants are able to wage organized wars, but at the same time capture other individuals for their own purposes.
- The best folk remedy for ants is a prepared mixture of boric acid and sweet bait. In this case, the death of the ants does not occur instantly, they manage to convey the poisoned particles to the food of the uterus - therefore, this method often leads to the death of the queen herself.

The use of pesticides is a last resort, as they also harm plants. Often such products contain diazinon, which poses a significant danger to bees.

In general, there are many ways to breed ants and each has its own supporters, so for the most part you will have to check them yourself.

Fight against ants in a country house

More often, activity is manifested by ants on the site, but nevertheless, uninvited guests able to visit the country house in search of food. In this case, you should remove them using the same slow-acting poisonous baits that are sold in stores, or if you make it yourself based on boric acid, which destroys the chitin of ants and effectively destroys them. Otherwise, the method of fighting ants in country house the same as in the area.

What benefits can ants bring to the site

Nevertheless, you should not rush to sound the alarm and arm yourself with insecticides when you see at least one ant on the site. Ants bring garden plots a lot of benefits. They protect plant stems from fly and caterpillar larvae, slugs and other pests.

In addition, the presence of ants in the soil improves its structure and increases the amount useful substances obtained in the course of their life. For example, the amount of phosphorus in the earth rises up to 10 times, potassium - 2 times. Moreover, these substances pass from soluble forms to insoluble ones, due to which the plant roots receive the necessary nourishment.

In general, their presence is necessary for the normal life of the site, it is only important to monitor the number and protect some areas in which their appearance is undesirable.