Do you have a problem with ants in your lawn? It’s safe to say that, unless you’re a hermit, you’ve probably had an encounter with ants at some point in your life.
Although ants are helpful when it comes to pollination and controlling other pests in your garden, sometimes they can become a nuisance. And if you’ve ever tried to get rid of them yourself, you know that they can be pretty resistant to eradication.
If you’re looking for a way to get rid of ants in your lawn, Borax is a natural and effective pesticide. In this post, we’ll share some simple tips for getting rid of ants in your lawn using borax. Read on for more information!
How Ants Can Affect Your Lawn
Once ants move in, they can start multiplying very fast, and take over a lawn in a short amount of time. With the arrivals of these insects come ant hills, which are one of the most common causes of ant damage on grass. These hills are formed from excavated dirt that is placed on the lawn surface and out of the way of ants’ colonies.
Ant hills can cause your lawn to be uneven and dangerous to walk on. Additionally, they can wreak havoc on a lawn mower if it gets stuck or damaged. The grass under these ant hills is also in danger of becoming browned or dead, because ant hills block the sunlight and oxygen from reaching the grass below.
Ant colonies can also cause damage to your grass by eating away at the roots and creating dead areas.
Aphids, as well as other pests and diseases, will infest your grass if you have ants. The ants “farm” the aphids so that they may feed on Honeydew produced by them. Aphids are a nuisance to plants and vegetables. If you have an infestation, it will be difficult to control.
Killing Ants With Borax
Borax, or boric acid, are the two active ingredients that can kill off the ants in your yard. Both of these chemicals affects the ants in the same way, and both contain the element Boron.
Borax is typically obtained from tourmaline, kernite, and colemanite during a mining and refinement process, whereas boric acid is extracted from sassolite.
Boric acid and borax both kill ants by causing their stomachs to rupture. It poisons the ant’s stomach and affects their metabolism, and the powder is abrasive to their exoskeletons. They will typically die within 24 to 48 hours.
Borax is a natural product, so it is safe for other animals and children. You can buy borax at most hardware stores or online.
Put Boric Acid and Confectioner Sugar on Your Lawn
Here is an easy way to get rid of them using boric acid. Mix the boric acid and confectioner sugar into a paste and put it near the ant hills around your lawn. The sweetness in the sugar attracts the ants, and they then take it back to their colony to share with the other ants.
This approach could go poorly if the mixture is not mixed perfectly. If it has too little boric acid, you won’t be able to kill the ants. If there is too much boric acid in the mic, the ants will die before they are able to take the paste back to their nests. It could also kill the grass.
Honey or Corn Syrup
Rather than using powdered sugar, you can also use other sweet products such as honey or corn syrup. These will act the same as the paste made with the powdered sugar.
Mix It With Water
To kill the ants, mix 1-2 tablespoons of borax with a gallon of water in a bucket. Place the bucket near the ant hill and pour the mixture over the top of it. The ants will drink the mixture and die. If there are any mounds remaining after you have treated them, reapply as needed until they are gone.
Those are some great ways to use borax to kill the ants in your lawn. If you want to learn other ways to get rid of ants, check out our post here!
Conclusion
Ants can be a nuisance to your lawn. They use their long antennae and strong pincers to break down the organic matter in soil, which is harmful for plants that need nutrients. And, now you should know how to get rid of the ants in your lawn with borax. Borax is a chemical that kills ants without hurting other living things, like the environment, animals, and children, so it’s safe to use on your lawn.
It won’t kill all the ants at once but you’ll see results over time if you keep applying frequent applications of borax every few days or weeks depending on how many colonies are present in your yard. It can be applied easily and safely with the few simple steps outlined above so you don’t have to worry about these pesky insects ruining your day again!
