And behind it, in turn, bacterial and fungal diseases. In general, garden plants with such neighbors have almost no chance to fully develop. And if you do nothing, then you shouldn’t count on a harvest. How to get rid of ants in the garden using improvised means and what to do to ensure that these nimble insects bypass your plot - this will be discussed in our article.

Damage from insects in the garden

Despite the fact that ants also destroy other harmful insects, they are unwelcome guests in garden beds. During their life, the soil becomes loose, enriched with nitrogen, potassium and humus; they do not harm plants. Why do they need to be driven away from the site?

Did you know? During an experiment, scientists from Harvard University in Florida managed to find out that ants are as ancient as dinosaurs. These insects first appeared about 130 million years ago and have already experienced mass extinction.

By collecting dead beetles and butterflies throughout the area in order to feed the queen, ants contribute to the spread of aphids. But this is not all the accusations against them: when constructing their underground dwellings, the ubiquitous insects make many passages in the root system of plants, thereby preventing the development of garden crops.

Moreover, they are carriers of weed seeds. It is obvious that the benefits that these clever insects bring to the beds and gardens do not at all compensate for the losses from the life of their faithful companion - aphids.

Folk remedies

Fighting ants in a summer cottage is a labor-intensive process, so you immediately need to be patient. It makes no sense to kill an entire colony; relocating these insects to another place turned out to be more effective. There are many ways to do this, let's look at the best ones.

Digging an anthill

This is one of the radical methods of fighting insects. It consists of removing the entire ant nest and relocating it off site. Experienced owners advise protecting yourself with special clothing and digging as deep as possible.

Then, depending on its size, the anthill is loaded onto a wheelbarrow or into a bucket and taken away from their property to any place they like. They resort to relocation in rare cases when other remedies for ants in the countryside are powerless.

Be careful: the remaining residents may settle in the old place, so to prevent them from having such a desire, sprinkle the dug hole with table salt. You can also use powder or wood ash. As a preventative measure, it wouldn’t hurt to dig up nearby areas. They can also be fertilized with ash.

Plants that drive away pests from the site

Some housewives share their experience of sowing in beds and in tree trunk circles garden plants daffodils, lavender, lemon balm, peppermint, mustard and even allow wormwood to grow. The fact is that these odors are very unpleasant to insects.

The list of crops that repel ants also included tomatoes, mustard, red hot chili peppers, onions, garlic, parsley, anise, marigolds, black elderberry, and all representatives of conifers. And the more similar smells there are around, the faster garden lovers of aphids will run away.

If you did not manage to sow these crops in a timely manner, and the ants have already taken a fancy to your plot, do not be upset. It is enough to cover their anthill with tops, and soon the insects will leave your yard.

On the forums, summer residents are advised to mix pine needles or sawdust with the leaves of wormwood, mint, fennel, douse everything with kerosene and place a “treat” under the abode of uninvited guests. To improve the effect, sprinkle the area around the nest with dry mustard or ground black pepper. Please note that the degree of evaporation of incense is affected by air humidity and temperature. Therefore, be prepared to select a product that will work.

Important!To save your garden from aphids, spray the plants, especially the leaves on the inside, with a soda solution in the proportion of 10 liters of water to 3 tablespoons of powder.

For those who are looking for answers to the question of how to instantly remove ants from the garden, a recipe is suitable, the main ingredient of which is boric acid. It is enough to dissolve 30 g of powder and 5 tablespoons of sugar in 1 liter of boiling water, add 100 g of sunflower oil, and the product is ready.

You can enhance the effect with a few drops of any essential oil or a glass of table vinegar. This mixture should be poured as deep as possible into the ant nest. To do this, you will need to make a deep hole in it, and after the liquid is at its destination, cover the anthill with a piece of polyethylene and secure its edges. After a couple of days, the procedure should be repeated.

Did you know? The main task of ants is to prepare supplies for the winter, but they do not eat the food they obtain without permission. Everything goes to the disposal of the uterus, the so-called “queen,” who decides what, when and to whom to eat.

You can improvise when creating an “anti-ant”. On forums, gardeners share a recipe with the addition of shampoo (for the given mixture you will need about 100 g), soda (no more than 2-3 tablespoons), ash (the quantity does not matter). Instead of water, you can take a decoction of pine branches or tomato stems. Plan the treatment for the period when all the inhabitants of the anthill have returned home, and be careful not to burn the roots of the cultivated plants.

Kerosene

The smell of this liquid is unbearable for ants. Having sensed it, they immediately begin to look for something else. appropriate place for your monastery. Kerosene should be generously poured over the anthill and the area around it. Some gardeners advise additionally pouring a little product into the recess made in the nest.

As a preventive measure, you can soak small pieces of cloth in kerosene and place them, for example, in a berry garden under each currant bush. Watering tree trunk circles with such a substance is strictly prohibited, otherwise you will lose not only ants, but also plants in the garden.

Boiling water

If you don’t want to interact with chemicals, and small workers have occupied your garden and vegetable garden, prepare boiling water and scald their lair several times every day, having previously stirred it up. The discomfort created will give immediate results.

Ways to combat ants in the garden or vegetable garden

Red ants(sometimes called pharaonic) very dangerous neighbors who like to settle in dachas or in country houses. Such proximity must be suppressed in the most severe manner, since it threatens trouble for all inhabitants of the garden plot.

Fighting ants– a complex task that requires an integrated, competent approach. Incorrect treatment carried out to destroy ants leads to a rapid restoration of the number of ants and to the development of their addiction to the group of toxic substances with which the room was treated.
In addition to moving into your home and causing damage to your home, these hard-working insects can cause damage to your garden trees and garden plants. The fact is that most species of ants build their nests deep underground, in the root system of trees. If ants take a fancy to a tree and decide to live under it, most likely such a tree will live no more than 2-3 years. If the ants' nest is in the garden, plants will not grow either on it or near it.
Another “bad habit” of ants is their love for aphids. The ants catch these "ladies", pull them into nests and milk them there, thus infecting more trees and soil with aphids. That's why fight ants on his own garden plot It is imperative and advisable to do this without the use of chemicals, since chemicals can harm not only ants, but also all living things around, including plants.

In parallel with the fight against ants, you also need to get rid of aphids. You could say they are cheating each other.

How to get rid of ants in your garden plot?
Ants most often settle in areas where the soil is rarely cultivated because, like all living things, they do not like to be disturbed. Therefore, the more often the land is dug up and cultivated, the less chance of an anthill forming in it. To rid trees of ants, you need to treat the trunk with a strong solution of lime, so that the lime covers not only the trunk, but also the ground around it.

If the ants have already taken a fancy to your site and there is already an anthill in your garden, then it’s time to take decisive action. The anthill should be dug up and not just on the surface of the earth, but deep. To finally get rid of garden ants, you need to destroy their nests, then they will leave your area on their own. In order to destroy the nest for sure, add lime, ash or ash to the ground, or more of everything, and carefully dig up the area where they live.

THE MAIN THING IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ANTS...
...choose the right target. First, you need to remove the root cause of the ant population explosion, namely aphids. Its disappearance will greatly simplify the task. At the same time, you should use agents directed against the ants themselves.
Pressing one by one is an absolutely futile task. Those tireless workers who drag loads somewhere near the terrace and in the beds, heavier than their own weight, are workers, or rather, wingless, sterile females. On the one hand, there are tens, even hundreds of thousands of them, on the other hand, the existence of the population does not depend on them. Having stirred up the anthill, one also fails to complete the task. It is imperative to destroy the “queen” and her offspring.
...properly use the “weapon”. Winged individuals of both sexes appear in nests once a year.
The “males” die soon after mating, and the “ladies” shed their wings and go in search of a new nest to take their place on the throne and lay eggs. After two to three weeks, larvae emerge from the eggs, which after four to five months turn into pupae and then into adult insects. The very next day after birth, the ant begins to work: first it feeds the queen, then, as it grows up, it takes the position of nanny, builder, scout, caterer, and security guard. At the slightest danger to the “queen” and the offspring, the entire anthill immediately mobilizes. Therefore, it is important to deliver the drug directly to its destination without touching the “sensors” burglar alarm».
Usually poisonous powders are used: they are eaten by working individuals (or absorbed through their outer integument) and are carried “on their paws” to the nests.
...to stop in time. All living organisms are involved in complex chains, and if one of the links is removed, the ecological balance. The gardener is unlikely to find peace if he completely exterminates the ants: he will have to fight more “bloodthirsty” enemies.

REMEDIES FOR COMBATING GARDEN ANTS
Various preparative forms of diazinon are widely used against numerous leaf-eating and sucking insects: aphids, ground beetles, mole crickets, grain flies, common beet weevil, gnawing cutworms, bedbugs, moths, etc. This substance belongs to the class of highly active organophosphorus chemical compounds, amazes nervous system insects and causes paralysis.
Diazinon has a strong contact and intestinal effect (rapidly absorbed through the mouth and skin) and leads to the death of ants within the first two days after treatment. At the same time, the consumption is minimal: one bottle (10 ml) of “Anteater” is enough to water 50 sq.m., which is about 200 anthills. The product destroys both adults and larvae. In treated areas, ants do not “tread down” paths again and do not make new nests. The period of protective action is at least three weeks.

FOLK METHODS OF FIGHTING ANTS
Ants are repelled by the smells of parsley, tansy, laurel, anise, mustard, and tomato tops. The leaves and stems of these plants are laid out on ant paths or tied around tree trunks like a rope. Mint and valerian are sown between the ridges and around the trees. The ants, sensing the “aroma,” will move to another place. Ant paths and mounds are sprinkled with baking soda or areas where insects accumulate are treated with ash, taken in equal proportions with crushed tree bark and lime.
Watering anthills saturated solution boric acid with the addition of granulated sugar (4 tablespoons of sugar per glass of liquid).
Mix dried crushed oregano grass with sulfur (1:2), sprinkle it on the places where the nests are located, or dig the mixture into the ground.
Ant heaps are watered with water and kerosene (10 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). Ant trails and areas where ants accumulate are shed with water and vegetable oil.

In the evening, when all the “ants” are in the houses, the anthills are dug up and filled with boiling water. In this case, it is necessary to stir up the nest completely and only then shed it well. In this way, the queen of the family and the larvae are destroyed. Unfortunately, all these folk remedies only repel ants. Only insecticidal preparations completely get rid of them.

A few more ways to deal with ants

The following method of fighting ants deserves the attention of gardeners. Strips are cut from sheepskin and raspberry shoots are tied at a distance of 13-18 cm from the ground. The strips should be wool facing out, and the latter is lubricated with crude carbolic acid. The smell of this acid thoroughly drives out ants and saves berry bushes from the invasion of small color destroyers and bush berries.

This method can also be used. A shallow groove is made around the anthill, then carbon sulphide is poured over it and the anthill, the latter is immediately set on fire, as a result of which it lights up on all sides and in depth. Insects can no longer escape death; they don't even have time to run away.

To exterminate ants, anthills can also be filled with boiling water or kerosene.

- You can rub the places where ants accumulate with garlic or onions, prepare bait: 3 tbsp. l. dissolve 1 tbsp water. l. sugar and 1/3 tsp. l. Boers. Heat everything, mix, cool and add 1 tsp. l. honey Place this bait in places where insects accumulate.

I get rid of annoying ants from my summer cottage very easily. I find an anthill and, starting from it, pour a thin stream of concentrated sweet water or honey 2-3 meters long, and at the end I pour out 1 tablespoon of the same sweet bait.
The ants run along this path as if hypnotized. You can even scoop them up with a scoop, sprinkle them with salt, or simply trample them. After 2-3 days, the procedure must be repeated, but the sweet path should be laid in a different direction. I noticed that for some reason the ants did not run along the “old” path.

The beds can be sprinkled with a mixture of ash, highly crushed tree bark and lime. Ants cannot tolerate strong odors. Place the head of a smoked herring on the anthill of black ants, lay out tomato tops or parsley leaves. The magazine "Progressive Gardening and Horticulture" for 1906 gives the following advice: sprinkle the layer of soot and ash that is sprinkled on the soil to get rid of ants with a strong solution of table salt. A decoction of tomato tops has a detrimental effect on ants. The more concentrated the solution, the better. Ants do not tolerate this plant to such an extent that they are not even found in the beds where tomatoes grow. For example, I twist something like belts from green tops of tomatoes and tie them around the trunks of apple trees and plum trees at a height of about 1.5 m. During the summer, not a single ant penetrates the crown of the tree.
If the anthill is located at some distance from cultivated plants, you can pour boiling water over it.
On the paths along which the ants move (and they move strictly along their own routes), place cloves of garlic, twigs of wormwood, and tomato leaves cut into several pieces.
You can arrange a sweet trap for ants: dilute half a teaspoon of boric acid and 1 tbsp in half a liter of water. spoon of sugar. Stir thoroughly, pour into a small bowl and place a straw or blade of grass on the edge, along which the ants will get to the bait.
Pour a tablespoon of yeast with cold boiled water to the consistency of thick sour cream, stir, add a teaspoon of jam and stir again. Then you need to apply this mixture to a piece of cardboard and place it in places where ants accumulate. They eat the mixture and die after a while. It is better to prepare the bait in smaller quantities, but more often, without allowing it to dry out. Cover the top from the sun and rain with film, leaving a gap at the bottom for the ants.

- To destroy the ants, lay out poisoned baits.
Bait recipe: 40% sugar, 10% honey, 5% borax, 45% water. Baits are poured into test tubes and laid out in an inclined position in those places where the ants climb (at the rate of one test tube per 3-4 sq. m).
Sunflower oil repels ants well. It is used to lubricate the edges of vessels containing jam, honey, sugar, and candies on all sides.

Ants in a house or apartment

Fight ants difficult, but possible. The main thing here is to take into account some features of ant life. So, the heart of an ant colony is considered to be the nest, where the females, or ant queens, are located, producing more and more new workers. Females do not leave the nests and cannot obtain food for themselves; they are fed by sterile worker ants.

Find a nest ants in the apartment very difficult. Usually it is securely hidden in some small cavity in the wall or floor. Even if you are lucky and find an ant hole, do not rush to chip off the tiles or remove the parquet: the hidden corridor leading to the nest can be quite long, and you will have to ruin more than one tile or parquet. However, since the worker ants feed the entire colony, you can try to “treat” the females and larvae with some kind of poisonous potion through them. This is possible if the concentration of the poison (boric acid is most effective) is low (does not exceed 2 percent). The ant will not die immediately, but will carry it to the heart of the colony.

Here are some simple recipes:

1. Dilute about 1/4 teaspoon of boric acid, three teaspoons of sugar and one or two teaspoons of honey into a glass of water. The bait in small dishes should be placed not once or twice, but for a month, and in a place where ants can reach, but other domestic animals cannot. Make sure that ant poison does not become a dangerous toy for your children.

3. Ants are also repelled by the smell of sunflower oil, elderberry leaves, wild mint and wormwood.

4. Borax helps - a mixture of boric acid with sugar or honey. These creatures eat her and die.

5. Dichlorvos.

6. It is necessary to bring REAL FOREST ants from the street into the apartment where domestic ants live, and those, like decent revelers, should take the domestic ones into the forest. By the way, there is nothing funny, the method has already been TESTED - the disappearance of house ants is 100%.

7. Fill a jar with water, add more honey or sugar, they will crawl there themselves and voluntarily drown themselves.

8. Try smearing garlic on their driveways about a couple times a month.

9. Frontline spray helps radically - a fairly expensive spray against cockroaches, ants, fleas and ticks. Sold in veterinary pharmacies.

10. Radical remedy - "Regent". A small bag, dilute with water, apply with a small syringe with a needle into all holes and crevices.

11. Buy a special product in a tube at a hardware store (the names can be completely different) and smear this “toothpaste” near roads and ant passages. The point is that they begin to get sick and infect their colony, i.e. the effect increases significantly.

Recently, there have been more and more cases of bedbugs being introduced into the country house or apartment. Ways to get rid of bedbugs yourself.

A few more tips for fighting ants in your apartment:

Sunflower oil repels ants well. So that they don't get into food products, it is necessary to grease the edges of the dishes and bags in which food is stored with sunflower oil.
- dissolve yeast in water, add jam or powdered sugar and put this mixture in the cupboard with food. The ants will attack the bait and die.
- Ants are repelled by the smell of lemon. Therefore, lemon can be used to lubricate the edges of dishes in which jam, honey or sugar are stored.
- place a piece of raw meat in an accessible place and within a few days remove the ants that have come from it. After some time, a hungry queen will crawl to the food; destroy her and the reproduction of ants will stop.
- the smell of parsley and garlic repels red ants well, bay leaf and mustard.

- To get rid of household ants in the kitchen, you must first, if possible, eliminate the holes and crevices from which these ants crawl out, then collect the ants all in one pile - for this you need to pour sugar in the place where they usually accumulate, then simply pickle them with a product that can be bought in any store household chemicals.

- To repel ants from food, the edges of the bags can be greased with sunflower oil.
- Lightly lubricate the lower parts of the table legs with mosquito repellent "Taiga" or "Komarex", after which the ants will not dare to rise to the surface of the table for 2-3 days.

Knowing the laws of life of an ant colony allows you not only to find a suitable way to fight, but also eliminates unnecessary fears. So, even if you return from visiting with a piece of grandma’s pie and bring several infertile worker ants, they still will not be able to establish a colony and begin to reproduce. Only females are in charge of dispersal. If this were not so, then the pharaoh ant would have taken much less time to spread throughout the world.

Small-sized insects - ants belong to the order Hymenoptera. Their genus includes more than 6 thousand species. Annoying guests of garden plots are red, black, and yellow ants. Redheads are forest dwellers who sometimes run into garden lands. They eat small insects, so they do more good than harm. Yellow and black ants are a scourge for gardeners. Let's figure out why these pests are so dangerous and how to deal with them.

Why are ants dangerous in the garden?

According to hymenopterologists (specialists who study insects), ants are the most common beneficial Hymenoptera. However, their presence in large numbers can cause serious damage. The peculiarity of garden ants is that they locate their homes under bushes of cultivated plants. Ants have a weakness for strawberries, currants, plums, apple trees, and pears. By making their tunnels underground, insects oppress newly planted plants. This applies to open and closed ground crops.

The main harm that garden ants cause is the breeding of aphids, which secrete sweet juice, which is an ant delicacy. Insects not only protect and take care of it, but also contribute to the reproduction of this pest. The danger of aphids is that they settle on young branches, feed on plant sap, weakening them and infecting them with viral diseases.

Ants also contribute to the reproduction of psyllids, scale insects and some types of caterpillars. The insects themselves feed on small seeds and do not refuse fruits and berries. They have a special passion for garden strawberries. Ants help increase weeds on the site because they store reserves of their seeds underground.

Effective ways to get rid of ants in the garden forever

The main methods of controlling ants in the garden are related to their destruction and getting rid of aphids, which are the food source for pests. To defeat this army of insects, you will have to be patient. Folk remedies or specialized preparations in the form of powders, gels, and solutions of pesticides will help get rid of ants. If the first option only scares away, but does not harm the population, then the second and third will help destroy the entire family that has settled on the site.

Biological methods of controlling ants

The most humane way to get rid of garden ants is to use a biological method, which involves the use of plants that repel pests. Natural remedies help avoid unnecessary victims, while chemicals can cause the death of other creatures that accidentally taste the poison. These crops mainly include aromatic herbs and spices: tansy, mustard, parsley and tomato tops.

Tansy

One of the most effective folk methods of fighting ants is the use of tansy. To prevent pests from settling near the currants, scatter tansy flowers; their aroma will scare away uninvited neighbors. The product prepared using dried parts of the plant performed well. For it, take 0.8 kg of dry tansy branches, pour 10 liters of water and leave for two days.

Then boil the infusion for half an hour, strain, add the same amount of cold water, add 50 g of laundry soap. Use the resulting product to treat areas where pests accumulate, including plants. This decoction can be prepared from fresh plant parts. In this case, take 2 kg of tansy for the specified amount of water. It will help repel pests and the growing plant. To do this, plant tansy near crops favored by ants.

Mustard

Regular dry mustard helps save the garden from ants. It is the simplest and most affordable product that does not require the preparation and use of any spray solutions. To get rid of ants, cover their areas of accumulation and paths with a thick layer of mustard powder. The smallest particles will clog the spiracles of insects, which will cause the pests to escape.

Parsley

One of the effective environmentally friendly means of combating ants is the use of parsley. The smell of the plant repels insects and makes their presence near it unbearable. Pluck the leaves of the plant, mash them slightly to enhance the aroma, and place them near the nests. The smell of parsley will not kill ants, but will cause them to migrate en masse to more favorable places.

Tomato tops

Tomato tops help cope with the invasion of garden ants. Its effectiveness is explained by the presence of a toxic glycoalkaloid substance - solanine, which is found not only in tomato branches, but also in green fruits. To combat ants, any vegetative parts of the plant that are not affected by fungal diseases are suitable. Fresh and dry tops are used, which are stored for future use. Placing tomato shoots located under the bushes of garden crops will help protect against ants.

A decoction of tomato stems and leaves has proven itself well as a remedy for ants and aphids. To prepare it, take 4 kg of crushed parts of the plant, pour 10 liters of water and leave for 4 hours. Boil the infusion for half an hour over low heat, cool and filter. Before use, the resulting product is diluted in proportions 1:4.

If dry parts of the plant are taken to prepare the product, the decoction is prepared according to the following recipe:

• 1 kg of dry crushed tops is poured with 10 liters of water and left for 5 hours.
• Then boil for three hours in a container, covered with a lid, over low heat. If the water boils too much, you need to add about the same amount of boiling water.
• The cooled and strained solution is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:3.
• The resulting mixture is used to treat areas where aphids and ants accumulate.
• To make the solution stick better, add 30 g of green soap to it before use.

Chemicals for killing ants in the garden

The most effective means of protecting your garden plot from pests, including ants and aphids, are chemicals. Their use contributes to the destruction of the settled insect family. However, these remedies will not help get rid of ants forever. The use of chemicals must be carried out in strict accordance with the instructions supplied with them in order to avoid the negative effects of the products. The most popular drugs for ants are: Thunder-2, Muracid, Anteater, Delicia.

Grom-2

Grom-2 is considered one of the most effective professional drugs. It is a suspension of small granules containing diazinon, an active toxic substance against garden pests (fungus gnats, soil gnats, flies, ants). Grom-2 is classified as a moderately dangerous drug for animals and humans. When released into ponds and aquariums, it causes the death of fish. When working with the product, it is recommended to use personal protective equipment - goggles, gloves, respirator. While performing the treatment, do not drink, smoke or eat.

To fight ants:

• The substance is scattered in places where they accumulate and move.
• The drug is effective for two to three months.
• To destroy an anthill, first remove the top layer of soil (2-3 cm), then scatter poison over its surface.
• Places where Grom-2 was used should be sprinkled with soil or covered with roofing felt.
• After using the drug, the ants will disappear after 3 days.

Muratsid

The product used by gardeners to kill ants is called Muracid. It is effective not only from garden species, but also from insects that have entered living quarters. The drug is a contact-intestinal liquid that must be diluted in water before use. One milliliter of product is enough to prepare 10 liters of solution. After spraying muracide, insects die within 2-4 days.

The protective properties on the treated areas last for 3 months. If it is not possible to treat ant habitats due to the risk of poison getting on fruits and berries, the drug is added to baits that are placed in non-food containers. The product with muracide is prepared as follows: 100 g of sugar, 20 g of honey and one drop of poison are dissolved in 100 g of water.

Ant-eater

Liquid drug packaged in capsules. Used to kill garden ants. Used as a means to water insect habitats. To prepare a working solution, take 1 ml of the product and dilute it in 10 liters of water. This volume is enough to process 7-10 anthills. The drug does not affect earthworms and soil microorganisms and does not accumulate in the soil.

Delicia

An effective ant repellent from Germany is called Delicia. Supplied in powder form. The drug is used both in dry form and to prepare an aqueous solution. The powder is scattered in a thin layer in places where ants nest and along their routes. Crevices and cracks in the ground should be generously sprinkled with the product. It is recommended to use 10 g of powder per square meter. The product is actively eaten by ants, which causes their poisoning. The insects carry it to their storerooms, where the queen and offspring eat the powder.

The effect occurs 14 days after treatment. It is allowed to use the drug to prepare a solution: 10 g of the product is dissolved in 5 liters of water. The resulting suspension is used to treat insect nests, cracks in the soil and all paths of movement of ants. The first method of application is considered the most effective because it causes the death of the entire colony. The product must not be used on lawns. While working with it, you should not eat, smoke or drink.

Folk remedies for killing ants in your garden

The safest, most humane methods for getting rid of ants are traditional ones. Most of them are aimed at repelling insects without harming the entire colony. Ants bring not only harm to the garden plot, but also benefit. By destroying these insects, you destroy other representatives of the animal world that depend on them. Traditional methods will not have a negative effect on cultivated plants. Let's look at the most popular and effective methods fighting ants.

Garlic

One of the most effective ant repellers is garlic. For this purpose, many gardeners plant it in the inter-rows of plants that are of interest to insects - strawberries, currants, cabbage and others. Garlic shoots, emitting a pungent aroma, are placed near ant nests. If you rub the crown of trees with them or garlic cloves, then insects will not be able to reach the aphids.

Ash

Wood ash helps scare away ants from the area. It is used to dust plants where aphids have appeared and insect habitats. You can drive them out of the anthill using hot ash. To use it to repel insects, stir up the nest and cover it with ash (straight from the stove or fire). Ants will not like such interference; they will rush to leave your garden.

Boiling water

An effective but cruel remedy for ants, which should not be used near garden plants, is boiling water. To do this, you need to take ordinary water, bring it to a boil, and pour it over the anthill. For greater effectiveness, you need to stir up the nest before using the method. Sometimes a boiling solution is prepared by adding some aromatic plants - garlic, lavender, tansy or ammonia. Their use adds to the unpleasant sensations for insects.

Black pepper

Black pepper helps repel ants from the orchard. Its effectiveness is explained by its unpleasant aroma and dusty consistency, which clogs the respiratory system of pests. It is used in the form of ground powder, which is thickly sprinkled on ant paths and nests. To enhance the effect, gardeners add ash to pepper and use the resulting remedy not only against ants, but also against aphids. This method will not kill the insects, but will force them to leave your garden.

Sugar syrup

Ants are known to have a sweet tooth, so sugar syrup will help get rid of them. To prepare it you will need 100 g of water and sugar. After dissolving sugar in water, get a thick syrup, which should be poured into small containers and placed near the anthill. Insects attracted by the treat will not be able to get out of it. Sometimes poison is added to the syrup.

Boric acid solution

This product is used as part of bait. To prepare it you will need pharmaceutical boric acid, which is dissolved in a small amount of water. The solution is poured into containers and placed near the nests. To make the liquid more attractive, a little sugar is added to it. This remedy helps get rid of the queen herself. Garden ants feed her a treat, which kills her. The effect of the product is enhanced by yeast, which is taken in proportions with boric acid 1:2.

Kerosene solution

Kerasin will help drive ants out of your garden. To do this, you need to prepare a solution of 10 liters of water, 10 tablespoons of kerosene. The resulting product should be poured into the previously stirred up anthill. To prevent the smell from dissipating, it is recommended to cover the treated area with film. The ants will not die, but they will no longer live in such an uncomfortable place.

Shampoo and vegetable oil

An environmentally friendly product that will help drive ants out of the garden is shampoo and vegetable oil. To prepare the solution you will need 10 liters of water, a bottle of vinegar, half a liter of oil and inexpensive shampoo. You can replace the last ingredient with dishwashing detergent. Mix all ingredients and pour onto the anthill. To allow water to penetrate deeper, pierce the nest.

Prevention of pests in the garden

To avoid the appearance of ants in the garden area, it is necessary to maintain cleanliness and remove weeds and dead plants in a timely manner. It is necessary to monitor the appearance of the favorite delicacy of these insects - aphids. Aphids that appear in the garden should be mercilessly destroyed. Consumption of food contributes to the appearance of garden ants on the site. Bread crumbs and pieces of food falling on the ground attract insects. To avoid ants, do not eat in the garden.

Video: how to get rid of garden ants in your summer cottage

The main concern of gardeners is not only to preserve the harvest, but also to prolong life cultivated plants. However, the appearance of ants interferes with these plans. There are a huge number of methods to help get rid of these pests in the garden. You will learn about the most effective of them by watching a series of video stories below. Professional gardeners, including the editor-in-chief of the Magic Garden magazine, will share how to protect garden plants from ants, how to poison them in the beds, and how to cope with insects that have settled in the greenhouse.

Protecting garden plants from ants

How to poison ants and aphids in garden beds

What are red ants afraid of in a greenhouse?

Fighting black ants in the garden

My many years of attempts to get rid of ants in my summer cottage are sometimes in vain. I tried a huge number of ways. Sometimes it seems to me that the ants are simply laughing at me and forcing me to waste money and precious time on them. It's like they're experimenting on me. It seems to me that it will not be possible to completely get rid of them. They are like migrants, constantly moving from place to place.

However their numbers can be reduced or transferred to a place where they will not cause any harm.

Why you need to get rid of ants in your garden or vegetable garden

It sounds, of course, blasphemous: to exterminate the ants. We are used to calling them forest nurses, because they bring great benefits there. But on the dacha plot they only cause damage and harm. Therefore, even though There is a desire to feel sorry for them, but it also quickly disappears.

Let's start with the root system of trees. This is one of the most favorite places for ants, where they build their nests, deep underground. If insects have found their home in the roots, the tree is not a tenant. 2-3 years - and it will come to an end. This happened with my favorite chestnut, which has already begun to bear fruit.

The vegetable garden and flower beds are also an attractive place for our pests to live. And still the same roots...

Ants spread aphids- I think there’s no need to explain anything in particular, avid summer residents understand me. The problem is that insects drag aphids into their nests, thereby infecting the soil and plants with them. Therefore, the fight must be carried out in parallel - both with ants and with the hated aphids.

Thus, For the garden and vegetable garden, ants are not orderlies, but pests. And there must be fierce battles with pests until complete victory. Of course, I would not use “chemical weapons,” since you can “disarm” insects, but at the same time cause irreparable harm to plants.

When is the best time to fight?

Autumn is the most best time to kill ants because country cottage area already prepared for winter, vegetables have been harvested, flowers have been cut. It's time to join the battle with insects!

The fight, of course, should be carried out both in spring and summer. But during the season, it is complicated by the fact that it is more difficult to reach the ants, since they have already settled under the roots of the plants.

Ways to get rid of ants

What to do with anthills where plants are already growing? Try dig the ground deep, destroying ant nests. In this case, the insects will either leave the area completely (to the neighbors, for example, this is such dark humor), or move to another place in the country.

Where periodic tillage occurs, ants do not settle often. They will not like it when their anthill is constantly disturbed and dug up. Ants go away completely if you add ash and lime to the soil.

What about trees? The trunks and the soil around them should be treated with a strong lime solution.

Chemicals

There are many different ones on sale chemicals that help get rid of ants. Many summer residents advise increasing the dose from the instructions by 2 times and do several treatments in a row. This is probably very effective, especially in a double dose. But it seems to me that this is not suitable for soil and plants. At least I don't do that. However, this does not mean that no one should use this method. In any case, you definitely need to know about such drugs.

Diazinon- here is a highly active organophosphate chemical that can attack the nervous system of ants and other insects and cause paralysis.

In just two days, there will be no trace left of either the ants or their larvae at the very minimum standard - a 10 ml bottle. In other words, this bottle is enough to destroy approximately 200 anthills in an area of ​​50 square meters. meters.

There is one “BUT”. The protective effect from such, in my opinion, a chemical explosion is only 3 weeks, when the ants do not trample new paths and do not make new nests. But what stress for plants and soil!

Folk methods and country secrets

Tip: Plant as many marigolds as possible. Ants cannot stand their tart smell, which is released along with essential oils.

• Layout on ant paths such plants as tansy, bay leaves, parsley, and tomato tops. Bundles of them can be tied around tree trunks. By the way, planting mint can prevent ants from creating nests. Such These annoying insects don’t like the scents at all and serve as a natural repeller. They, of course, I repeat once again, will not leave completely, but will move to another place. I have adapted to the habitats of ants: I am posting decorative stones and lure the ants there. They love to live under them. Well, let it be, but don’t stop the flowers from growing.

Advice on how to move ants to new apartment. Make a path from their nest, watering it with water and sugar or honey, to their new place of residence under the stones. Pour sugar water under them too. The ants will quickly move to a new nest.

• The most cruel, in my opinion, but also the most effective method - pour boiling water several times nests of their enemies. I did this in the children's sandbox, which they loved as soon as I made it. Lawlessness: they bit their grandson, believing that he had encroached on their property. I had to “fight back” with boiling water

• Water with boric acid water. Add 4 tablespoons of sugar to one glass of water. I call this the “carrot and stick” method: we lure them with sugar, but don’t forget about the poison. We make the solution with boric acid very concentrated.
• Anthills sometimes sprinkle with baking soda. I haven't tried it, but they say it helps.
• Many people water ant nests water with kerosene: 10 tablespoons of kerosene per 10 liters of water.
• Can be watered vegetable oil.
• Some people recommend sprinkling the ants ground cinnamon.

Ancient recipes

I read them on the Internet and systematized them a little.

• Moisten a rag with carbolic acid, place it near the anthill or wrap it around a tree or shrub. The smell will repel insects and help remove them.
• Place in places where ants gather grated garlic or onion.
• Water the anthill with concentrated salt solution.
• Sagebrush Place it around the nest.

• Take yeast(1 tablespoon), place in cold water, stirring until the sour cream thickens. Then stir in a little jam. Install this mixture near the ants' habitats. Having eaten it, they will soon die. This can be done often.
• Another poisoned bait. Her recipe: water/boron/sugar/honey in a percentage ratio of 45:5:40:10. Pour the mixture into a jar and place it in an inclined position to make it easier for insects to climb into it.
• Wrap tree trunks with adhesive fly tape. Any insects will stick to it.

To summarize: which methods are the most effective?

Unfortunately, all methods of summer residents, folk and ancient remedies, as you have already noticed, only help to repel ants.

Only insecticidal preparations will help get rid of them forever. What to use must be decided in each individual case.

After many years of testing, I settled on watering with boiling water where it cannot harm the plants, as well as on other aromatic plants, relocating the ants under stones in this way.

What do we know about ants? They loosen the soil, destroy dead caterpillars and other insects, and seem to be beneficial at first glance. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that they not only have benefits, but also cause harm, and significant harm. For example, not a single plant will grow near an ant hole. After all, their burrows are deep, and plant roots are usually damaged when digging them out. To the question - what to do with them? - there is only one answer - fight and remove them from the site. How? If you approach the problem incorrectly, the ants will quickly increase their exterminated numbers, but you can lose your plants irrevocably as a result of a chemical attack on insects. This article will allow you to learn about what it means to fight ants in your garden. We will look into this issue in great detail.

Dealing with a garden problem

Ants are also carriers of aphids, they attract them with their sweet milk, which they absorb with pleasure, and at this time the aphids ride on them where they want, this is such a useful pastime from their point of view (but not from ours).

Ants not only milk aphids, but also protect them, hide them in their nests for the winter, and in the spring they take them out again to the desired plants. So, ideally, your task is to kill two birds with one stone - both ants and aphids.

If you are looking for a means to combat garden ants, then know that not every method is suitable for solving this problem. These may simply be ineffective options, or the result of insects becoming accustomed to incorrectly selected drugs.

Effective fight options

This article will help you learn how to deal with ants in your country house. Here are some scenarios for your actions:

Ants respect peace very much, and therefore settle on rarely cultivated soils with great pleasure. So digging and loosening the soil is your everything; don’t leave the ants even a single chance for a quiet life!

To transport aphids, ants climb trees. If you whiten them with a special lime mortar, this will also deprive them of this opportunity.

An ant nest found in the ground must be radically destroyed by deep digging and then covering it with ash, lime, and digging it up again. This will force the ant family to look for new habitats and leave your area. But it’s better to track their movement paths so that they don’t find shelter on the outskirts of your garden.

Folk options for fighting ants

So, if you have ants in your garden, then it is important to know how to get rid of them traditional methods. If you are not a fan of pesticides, then you will benefit from folk remedies to combat this scourge:

Traps.

Sweet option. Dilute water, honey and sugar into several jars, place insects on the paths, be sure to make a ladder for them from straws for easy climbing, once they climb in, they will definitely drown in the jars

Double-sided tape can also be successfully used in this case. For bait, take something sweet, place it on a saucer, and place a strip of tape there as a bridge.

Lures.

We all remember from biology course that ants have a sweet tooth. There is an option - soak a sponge in syrup, and as soon as the ants crawl onto the treat, dip the sponge in boiling water. And we do this several times until their numbers are reduced.

Make a thick mixture of yeast and sugar. It is necessary to spread this mixture near the nests or their paths. The ants that have eaten simply die

From 2 spoons of minced meat and a spoon of washing powder, mix them, roll into lumps and place them at the entrance to the burrows.

Boil 3 eggs and 3 medium potatoes, mash the potatoes with the egg yolks, add a spoonful of sugar and butter, then season everything with a pack of boric acid, roll the balls in the same way, and place them in the holes.

Sticky traps.

If your trees have not yet been whitewashed with lime, then an option with a sticky belt is relevant, which in March can be attached to a height of 0.5 cm from the ground on tree trunks, and replaced with new ones as they dry. There are not only ants here, no pests at all will reach the very crown!

But keep in mind that the queen and nests of these insects are usually underground, so it is impossible to completely get rid of them in this way.

Poisonous baits.

The fight against ants in the country may involve the use of toxic substances. Before using them, do not bring pets into the area, as they pose a danger not only to insects, but also to mammals.

Mix 2 tablespoons of minced meat with half a tablespoon of borax, roll into balls and place near the minks.

IN sweet water dissolve borax or boric acid, then pour it into containers and place it near anthills, as well as on ant paths. To prevent random birds or animals from drinking the poison, it is better to cover the saucers with bait, leaving only a crack through which ants can crawl. Until all the pests disappear, we periodically change the mixture there with a fresh one, and after the insects disappear, you can remove it. You can soak cotton wool in the same solution and scatter it in places where pests accumulate. Here, boric acid will help in one more way - it is useful for better shoot growth and increases yields.

Dissolve 1 spoon of sugar and 1/3 spoon of borax in 2 tablespoons of hot water; when it cools, add 1 spoon of honey. But this mixture must be changed daily, it is very perishable.

Sugar + glycerin and + 1/3 teaspoon of borax.

0.2 liters of water + 4 tablespoons of sugar + 1 tablespoon each of boric acid and borax, saturate the fabric with it, and lay it out in the right places, as it dries, soak it in the solution again.

We do not remove all the bait until the ants completely disappear; the worker ants die after 4–5 days from eating the poison, but during this time they will also feed it to the larvae and the queen, which will stop laying eggs and also die.

Do not overdo it with brown or boric acid, our goal is to also poison the queen and larvae; with a high dose of poison, the worker ant will die very quickly and will not have time to bring it all to the anthill.

Radical destruction of the anthill

If, while digging up your site, you come across an anthill, you need to dig it as deep as possible and cover it with ash or pour boiling water over it.

You can also use the following methods:

• Fill the anthill with vinegar (no need to dilute), or vinegar essence (dilute 1 to 3 or 1 to 4), some insects will die immediately, while others will leave in a few hours.
• Pour carbon sulfide into the nest itself or into the grooves dug around it and set it on fire, but at the same time, beneficial insects will also burn if they are in the neighborhood.
• You can pour tincture on the tops of tomatoes or potatoes into the nest.
• A layer of ash and soot is poured onto the entrance to the nest, and more table salt is sprinkled on top.
• Finely chopped onions and garlic can also be poured into the nest and filled with water, the pungent smell will drive out the insects.
• You can make a tincture and pour it in.

Pesticide

These drugs must be used very carefully and wisely so as not to harm plants and beneficial insects and animals. And insects can easily hide in their underground shelters. But many gardeners prefer these methods of control.

Insecticidal gels.

A convenient option for greenhouses or greenhouses is to apply the gel to small pieces of cardboard and place it near ant paths or the anthill itself; it is recommended to first pour a liquid poisonous solution onto it. The worker ants themselves will eat the poison and carry it on their paws to the anthill, where it will begin to kill the insects right up to the queen.

Chemicals.

If you have a diazinon-based drug, then it is most likely a powdery mass that should be dissolved with water before use. Having done this according to the instructions, you can begin processing garden vegetation; the principle of operation is the same as that of the gel.

After 2 days, the ant dies after it has eaten or the poison has entered the intestines through the chitinous integument. Then the insect becomes paralyzed and death occurs.

The preparations given here are quite economical, for example, 1 package of Anteater (cf - wa from ants) can be enough for 50 m2, it lasts up to 20 days and during this time it is possible to eliminate all the ants on the site, including the queen itself.

There are also options for preparations that need to be scattered along the ant passages. And the found nest is destroyed like this: they remove the top layer of soil, pour poison into it, and in 4 days there will be no more ants.

Preventing the problem of ants in the garden

This article was able to tell you how to remove ants from the garden. From the above list of control methods, every gardener will surely find one that is acceptable to him. But it is better to prevent the appearance of insects than to make efforts to remove them later.

We remind you of such preventive measures as:

• Deep digging of the soil, this has already been mentioned above.
• Timely removal of all weeds, both living and dried.
• If aphids are noticed on the site, it is necessary to get rid of them as soon as possible.
• We immediately remove all food that accidentally falls on the ground, this can attract unnecessary insects.
• While digging, you can also spray the soil with anti-ant solutions.
• Thus, it is unlikely that pests will want to merge into your garden at all.

In conclusion, it is worth recalling the protective equipment when working with pesticides, do not forget about it.

Ants are workers, orderlies, but in the aspect of the garden and vegetable garden they are rather pests; having settled on the site, they will lead to the death of even garden trees very quickly. Therefore, prevention and control of them is an integral part of spring and summer work on the site.