Garden ant invasion - Q

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ifonly
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Garden ant invasion - Q

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Post by ifonly »

Morning
Since the weather warmed up we are being invaded - there are ants everywhere in our garden. I don't mean just a few working lines - they are there in their masses. Ant holes have appeared in amongst the shrubs, at the bases of the fruit tress, in the gravel, they in the brickwork on the bbq, they are even in the garden tubs. It seems as if there are various ant colonies all over the outside areas. They are everywhere - but so far none in doors.
Over the last 2 weeks we have been putting down Nipon and spraying with anti crawlie spray ...but nothing seems to be working. We have never seen so many before - there can be 5 or 6 heavy lines of them for hours on end.
Any ideas on what we can get here to get rid of them ?
Thanks

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Post by Becker »

We use a product called Spira Polvere insetticida atomizzato. Seems to get rid of the little blighters.

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Post by £eagle »

Why not let them get on with their ant lives? That may also bring lizards, like chameleons, and birds into your garden.

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Post by snd1966 »

£eagle wrote:Why not let them get on with their ant lives? That may also bring lizards, like chameleons, and birds into your garden.
Unfortunately they can eat the roots of the plants and cause death!

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Post by ifonly »

Becker - is it a spray ? Can we get it form the Yapi Markets here ?

£eagle - yes we did let them get on with their "antics" - however now they have invaded. They have made nests in the plant pots (despite us evicting them and replacing the soil - they moved back within 1 week ) - they are in the brickwork around the bbq (even my poor bbq cooking didn't see them off)- we have ant holes all around the garden with some holes as big as a walnut . They are under and around the fruit trees. It has got to the point that we cannot sit outside without having them crawling over our feet or up the chairs - they have invaded.
There is no "Adam" to control them so we must find another way to deal with them.

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Post by pc4854 »

I use cockroach spray which is instantaneous. It comes with a short plastic tube, spray into the nest and fill the hole back in. This is available in every supermarket.

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Post by Groucho »

snd1966 wrote:
£eagle wrote:Why not let them get on with their ant lives? That may also bring lizards, like chameleons, and birds into your garden.
Unfortunately they can eat the roots of the plants and cause death!
Oooh - death by ant - a new one for Silent Witness!

Far more likely to be eating the roots of plants are cicada grubs which live underground for 13 or 17 years - good luck with sitting by the plant waiting for them to put in an appearance....

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Post by waterline »

snd1966 wrote:
£eagle wrote:Why not let them get on with their ant lives? That may also bring lizards, like chameleons, and birds into your garden.
Unfortunately they can eat the roots of the plants and cause death!
I have lots of ants but have not noticed any plants dying. So when I googled ''do ants eat plant roots'' this is what came up first ....

''Ants are an important component of the garden ecosystem. Ants are cleaners: they eat and help decompose organic matter in the soil, enriching the soil. Ants also eat pest insects such as fleas, fly larvae, and termites. Ants tunneling in the soil improve soil aeration which is helpful to plant roots.''
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. (John Lennon)

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Post by snd1966 »

Thank you I will quote that when owners insist I get rid of them, as they say the customer is always right and I assumed they knew best.

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Post by Fawsley »

I've not tried it yet but, I have been told that ordinary ground cinnamon powder works in getting rid of ants.

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Post by frontalman »

I'm with Groucho and Eagle, leave nature to it's own. We only act on ants if they get into the house, and then only if there are lots of them. We have a little fruit rat that comes out and eats the bird seed and bread which Sally puts down , her name is Matilda apparently. Our plums disappear from the tree every year and we think we know who may be responsible but we wouldn't dream of harming her, or her extended family.

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Post by kbasat »

This does feel like the result of a previous interference to the nature's balance. It is highly possible that you or your neighbors (or someone nearby), your municipality etc used some sort of chemical pesticide(not necessarily targeting directly insects but maybe tree spraying) that killed pretty much of the entomofauna. Insects either survived because they are resistant or living underground or simply moved in to this newly cleaned up area. Now you are trying to use more chemicals in order to get rid of the ants, and when you succeed you will have to fight with something else.

The best way to deal with this is to maybe use some natural repellents in certain places, and hold on long enough to allow nature find its balance again.
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Post by alphamike »

A trail of ground cinnamon, or a spray made up with cinnamon oil and water round tables and chairs should help deter then. Also a spray on the table itself, if you are eating for good measure. Ordinary washing up liquid will deter them, and kill any that happen to stray onto it. Have heard that they won't cross talc of chalk lines.

A spray made up with a few drops of clove oil and water/vinegar mix will kill them, albeit the bigger ants take a bit longer. Apparently the eugenol in clove oil breaks down their eco system. Dried cloves placed in cupboards deters them.
Add a few drops of clove oil to your counter spray. This, touch wood, seems to be working in deterring them in the kitchen.

I keep a spray bottle just with clove oil and water outside to periodically spray on the ground round the table and chairs, and it seems to be helping in keeping the little blighters away from feet and table. Spraying directly on to the ants will kill them.

I tend to leave them be, outside, using repellent methods, rather than killing them, apart from in some areas where they have got down into the cement under the patio. I have used Sertex (the orange and white one with straw attached), but don't really like using it, unless it's for desperate measures.

Ordinary boiling water poured down the nest will work, maybe you will need a few tries, but this is obviously no good where plants are growing. Washing up liquid down the nest works too.

Hopefully you can find some kind of balance.

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