Ants nests in lawns for two primary reasons: food and moisture. Ants are attracted to the sugar in grasses, as well as other organic matter like fallen seeds, fruits, and vegetables. If you’ve been seeing more and more ants marching across your lawn, it may be time to take some steps to get rid of them once and for all.
You may be wondering how to get rid of these pesky critters naturally. There are a few different ways you can do this. One is to trim your lawn regularly so that there is less vegetation for the ants. While there are many chemical pesticides on the market that promise to get rid of ants, they can also be harmful to your family, pets, and the environment. If you’re looking for a more natural way to kill ants in your lawn, and to make your backyard an ant-free zone, read on!
Negative Effects of Ants In Your Lawn
One main negative effect ants make on your lawn is by them creating ant hills. Ant hills are made from the ants excavating soil from the dirt underneath the grass, which they placed on the lawn’s surface.
Ant hills make the surface of your yard uneven, meaning you or your children and trip over them when you’re walking. A lawn mower could also get stuck or damaged by the mounds.
Ants also frequently eat through the roots of the grass while constructing their nests and tunnels, leaving barren areas throughout your yard.
Ants also “farm” aphids, which then supply the ants with honeydew that they create. Aphids are annoying insects to have in your yard because they eat many plants and grasses.
Natural Methods to Kill Ants In Your Yard
There are many techniques and methods that use natural products to eliminate the ant problem in your lawn. We have a few listed below. Have a read through them and see which ones you can use in your backyard!
You can also use professional ant killers, or other chemical methods, such as borax, to kill ants. If you are looking for a way to kill ants with borax, or how to get rid of all the ant hills in your lawn, be sure check out our posts on those topics.
Boiling Water
This is one of the simplest natural methods to get rid of ants. Simply boil a pot of water and pour it over the ant hill. It should completely destroy the entire nest. This is best done early in the morning, when ants are cold-blooded and slow moving. Boiling water works well against ant hills near your house that you can easily access.
However, this could make your lawn boggy and waterlogged, which is not good for the grass. It also is not the most efficient way to kill the ants, and it may take multiple attempts.
Soapy Water and Olive Oil
You can also use soapy water mixed with olive oil for a more natural insecticide that will not harm humans. To use this method, mix 1 tablespoon each of soap and olive oil in one gallon of warm water and then pour this mixture all over an anthill outside.
You could also mix just a small amount of liquid soap and olive oil, and this will be much more potent but won’t reach as many ants.
White Vinegar
For another option, put equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spray the areas around their nests and ant hills. This will kill the ants on contact. You could also pour the mixture into the ant hill itself.
Vinegar is acidic, and therefore can be harmful to your grass and vegetation as well as the insects.
Chili or Cayenne Pepper
Another great idea is to sprinkle chili powder or cayenne pepper along pathways leading up to the ants’ colonies. This mixture, either in a powdered form or mixed with water and sprayed on the ground, is effective at masking the trail that ants use to get to and from their home.
Masking this trail makes the ants not able to find their way back home, and they eventually wander away. Keep your pets away from any pepper mixture, as it can be very spicy and may cause them pain!
Baby Powder
Baby powder sprinkled around the areas that the ants wander will cause them to die off as well. This is because the powder suffocates the ants by clogging up the pores in their exoskeleton.
You can sprinkle this product liberally around the entire lawn if you want to, as it is harmless to other animals, vegetation, and grass. Be sure to sprinkle some down the ant hills as well.
Salt
Salt dehydrates the ants, killing them. You should mix a few tablespoons into water to create a strong mixture, and either spray in and around the anthills, or pour the water into the anthills. However, avoid using an excess of salt water, because salt also can be harmful to plants and vegetation.
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is another option for removing the ant population from your lawn naturally- it’s made up of tiny pieces that get under their exoskeleton and cause them to dehydrate from within. This is a very effective way at killing the ants while being harmless to other animals and plants, but make sure to sprinkle it when there is no rain on the forecast – it washes away very easily!
Conclusion
If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably noticed a lot of ants in your home and lawn lately. Ants can be a nuisance, but you don’t have to break out the chemical warfare to get rid of them! If you want to kill ants naturally in your yard, there are several solutions. You can use boiling water, soapy water and olive oil, white vinegar, chili or cayenne pepper, baby powder, salt, or diatomaceous earth.
While the list above are effective methods, we want you to remember that the most effective way is prevention. You can do this by making sure they don’t have food and water sources around the house or garden as well as cutting back on their favorite foods such as pet food, honeydew melon and other sweet fruit. If these aren’t working for you then it’s time to try one of our solutions! Let us know what works best for you!
