Need Help with Ant Control in Yard

[Paystar]

Hello, where I live it is all sandy soil (more sand than loam), and my lawn is overrun with both red and black ants. I have 2 acres of lawn and a small budget, so is there a cost effective way to deal with this? I looked at store bought pesticides, but it would cost a fortune for an area that big. The kids can't even play in the yard without getting bit, and there are ant hills popping up everywhere. Any suggestions? Would any weed killers do anything?
Thanks.

 

[Tororider]

I have used diatomaceous earth to kill and keep ants away, you could look into that. But I haven't had to do it on a large scale, just drop some on their hills and put a perimeter around the house. The good news is that if you get the food grade stuff it is safe for human consumption and therefore would be safe for use around the kids, unlike many pesticides. Good luck.

 

[DennisArrow]

Hey........I use fireant stuff on each mound.......this has worked for ALL kinds of ants.......the problem is is that they come in from outside of your property.......so it is gonna be an ongoing problem..........Dennis

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

geraniums, chrysanthemums, and plants in the mint family (even "creeping charley") are supposed to help prevent infestations - but since you already have the problem, I'd consider some of the "Grant's Ants" products or possibly check the Garden's Alive or other "natural pest control" website for "non-toxic to human & pet" options.
You might also try making up bait stations using borax and sugar water - they'll drink this down and feed it to the queen which will kill her, but off the top of my head I don't know a good way to do this outside where other critters won't get into it.

 

[Tig]

Hi Paystar.
My last place was sandy and very dry. I found that keeping the lawn healthy fought them off. Easiest was for me to do this was to use agricultural grade fertilizer (cheap). 18-18-18 Green grass 4-5" tall didn't seem to be to their liking. It does take a year to get a head this way but it worked for me. It even chokes out the weeds. I did not have to water at all and I used no pesticides or herbicides.

 

[310-510]

Paystar,
Several years ago I had enough of those darned ants. They toppled (and further destroyed) a 15' cactus, mounds were everywhere, and they were making their way into the house. After purchasing a 2 pounds of Combat (HYDRAMETHYLNON) granules from the orange box store and sprinkling a little around all mounds, the perimeter of the house, and anywhere else ants were found. WOW! 3 days later, almost all ants were gone over the entire property. (1/4 acre) For the last couple of years, a little sprinkle is needed about once a year when a new ant place shows up. The 2 pound container is still over 1/2 full.
Carl

 

[LBrown59]

How can you be having that problem in the middle of winter.
You are way north of me in Ohio.
There are no ants here at this time of the year.

Hello, where I live it is all sandy soil (more sand than loam), and my lawn is overrun with both red and black ants. I have 2 acres of lawn and a small budget, so is there a cost effective way to deal with this? I looked at store bought pesticides, but it would cost a fortune for an area that big. The kids can't even play in the yard without getting bit, and there are ant hills popping up everywhere. Any suggestions? Would any weed killers do anything?
Thanks.

 

[Bird]

Down in the country, the fire ants were thick. Once or twice a year, I spread Logic on the 3 acres around the house; one pound per acre. Then I kept diazinon mixed and would slowly pour about a gallon on any ant mound I found. Now I'm back in town and can't buy diazinon, so I keep a couple of gallon jugs of Malathion mixed up and pour one on every ant mound I find. This past week, I worked on the whole yard and only found one ant bed and that was under one of the splash pans at the bottom of a rain gutter downspout.

 

[Tororider]

Paystar,
Several years ago I had enough of those darned ants. They toppled (and further destroyed) a 15' cactus, mounds were everywhere, and they were making their way into the house. After purchasing a 2 pounds of Combat (HYDRAMETHYLNON) granules from the orange box store and sprinkling a little around all mounds, the perimeter of the house, and anywhere else ants were found. WOW! 3 days later, almost all ants were gone over the entire property. (1/4 acre) For the last couple of years, a little sprinkle is needed about once a year when a new ant place shows up. The 2 pound container is still over 1/2 full.
Carl

With kids around, you may want to try this approach with the diatomaceous earth. With the kids that would be my first try. I think you can buy a 50lb bag for about $30.

 

[310-510]

With kids around, you may want to try this approach with the diatomaceous earth. With the kids that would be my first try. I think you can buy a 50lb bag for about $30.

Good point. In my case, no wife, no kids, no lawn (just rocks and sand), steep hill, no problem. Now! if those pesky neighbor kids happen to be playing on my rock hill eating the ant bait, they might be on their own!
Carl

 

[DanD78]

I have used diatomaceous earth to kill and keep ants away, you could look into that. But I haven't had to do it on a large scale, just drop some on their hills and put a perimeter around the house. The good news is that if you get the food grade stuff it is safe for human consumption and therefore would be safe for use around the kids, unlike many pesticides. Good luck.

I would look up a detailed MSDS sheet for Diatomaceous Earth before keeping it around. When wet there is no hazard but when dry and air born it can cause silicosis. We use it in filters for corn syrup but when dry we wear respirators. It would scare the public to death if they knew how dangerous some food grade ingredients were.

Dan

 

[Cat_Driver]

I've used it all and this stuff works like magic.

I sprinkled some around the ant hill and sat there and watched as hundreds of ants came out and grabbed this stuff and took it back down the hole ....I was amazed.

Then the next day I went to the ant hill and what I saw was even more amazing. There were many hundreds of dead ants arounf the ant hill and what living ants there were were bringing dead bodies out from the hole and dumping them around the entrance.

Next day after that not an art to be seen.

The ants take the bait back to the queen and serve her up a nice meal of poison - then bye, bye.


Ant Problem? Terro = Ant Control Solutions

 

[Tororider]

Food grade diatomaceous earth has very low amount of the crystalline form, and almost all amorphous form. Thus the risk for silicosis is much lower with food grade. That being said, keeping the bag closed and using a mask while working with it is a really good idea.

 

[Paystar]

Thanks everyone. I have a question, what is diatomaceous earth? I've never heard of it. And where do I get it? Do you need to put lots down, and what happens if it rains? Once the couple feet of snow is gone and it gets dry this summer maybe I will try that.

 

[Tororider]

You can get it at feed stores sometimes. Check online too. You do need to make sure you get food grade stuff though. So make sure the bags have a food grade codex on it. Like DanD78 said, the stuff that is easier to find, such as at pool stores, is the stuff you need to be real careful about.

Diatomaceaus earth, DE, is ground up fossil, which is why it is also called fossil shell flour, which you can sometimes get at health food stores. Many people add it to juice and drink it once a day, it is supposed to be good for your digestive tract. It sucks up moisture which is why I think it is affective with insects.

Check out this link. It has lots of other links for all you want to know about DE.

BackYardChickens.com - Raise Chickens, Build Chicken Coops, Hatch Eggs

 

[scott_vt]

Food grade diatomaceous earth has very low amount of the crystalline form, and almost all amorphous form. Thus the risk for silicosis is much lower with food grade. That being said, keeping the bag closed and using a mask while working with it is a really good idea.

Good Afternoon Tororider,
Thanks for that great tip ! Would I be able to use the diatomaceous earth that I use for my pool filter ? I do have some ant issues in the summer months also !

 

[Tororider]

Good Afternoon Tororider,
Thanks for that great tip ! Would I be able to use the diatomaceous earth that I use for my pool filter ? I do have some ant issues in the summer months also !

You know to be honest I have no idea, the only use I have had for it has been for my chickens and for killing/keeping ants away. I do know that there is some use for it with regard to pool filters. I just don't know what it is as I don't have a pool. Good luck. There is some good info on wikipedia about diatomaceous earth.

Diatomaceous earth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[weedpharma]

I have used diatomaceous earth to kill and keep ants away, you could look into that. But I haven't had to do it on a large scale, just drop some on their hills and put a perimeter around the house. The good news is that if you get the food grade stuff it is safe for human consumption and therefore would be safe for use around the kids, unlike many pesticides. Good luck.

I tried this on my place in West Australia. It had no effect. I poured it in and around the holes.

Weedpharma

 

[Skyco]

I really, really hate ants! Partly because I have an allergy issue with ant bites, not systemic, but extreme swelling and itching at the bite location.

Last night we were closely monitoring the outdoor temp because of the predicted heavy snowfall, and my outdoor remote temp sender quit working. Went out and got it, brought it in to see what was wrong. Dang thing had a bunch of ants in it, and this is in the winter and hangs on a tree 4 ft off the ground??? They started coming out as I went to disassemble it...BTW aerosol gun scrubber does a fine job on ants when they unexpectedly come pouring out on the workbench

I don't know why ants love electrical stuff so much. Years ago my heat pump quit, the contactor was full of fried ant bodies.

I use Amdro in the yard for the fireants but it does nothing against "regular" ants.