How do you get rid of ants on your lawn without killing the grass? When should you apply ant killers?
Lawns form an essential part of a home’s landscape. These add color to your yard in addition to reducing noise pollution.
Surprised? There are several other benefits, including increasing your soil’s stability, serving as an air cooler, and acting as natural filters for dust, water, and particulate matter from the air, including pollutants.
Lawn Treatment For Ants
Here, our discussion will primarily focus on the problems faced by ants on lawns and the effective treatments available. If you’re facing an ant problem, this article will be highly informative.
Your lawn deserves the best, hence the need to eliminate any threats posed by pests such as ants.
Be Wary of Treatment Methods Used
Not all treatment methods you hear will give you desired results.
Some options work perfectly to eliminate ants, while others won’t give you any solutions. Also, there are preventive measures you can adopt to keep your lawn free of these pests.
You’ll need to read on for details on these and more. By the end of this article, you should have no problems dealing with an ant infestation.
Plus, you’re sure of using proven techniques that work and are safe; and that you use them at the correct time.
Let’s jump to the juicy details without further ado, shall we?
Signs of Ants on Lawn
Ant problems in lawns can occur when you least expect it. You only get to discover the problem long after it begins. If you care for your property frequently, you’re likely to spot these problems early enough.
Thankfully, there are signs to look out for.
Examples include uneven lawn, bald patches, and the increased presence of plant-eating aphids. When one or more of these signs are noticed, it’s a clear signal to take care of the problem before it worsens.
Let’s discuss each of these signs to give you a better idea of what they’re about.
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Uneven Lawn
A lot of activities go on when ants infest your lawn. One thing they’re well known for is their ability to create passageways or tunnels. The worker ants are primarily responsible for this action.
The soil removed is gathered to one side, thus creating a hill.
Now, this becomes more evident when mowing the grass. The mowing process is more challenging as the blades get stuck in the dirt.
This creates a situation where there’s an uneven cut as the ground around such areas undulates, thus making the blades miss some sections of grass.
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Bald Patches
This is one of the easiest ways to identify ant activity. The continuous action of tunneling to create their new colony requires removing loose dirt. Both the earth and cut lawn roots are removed.
What results is a situation where patches appear around affected areas.
That is because the grasses around such areas have been damaged from the roots. If you’ve noticed such bald patches, all you have to do to confirm is take a closer look.
This will reveal ants are working tirelessly to establish and sustain their new colony.
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Increased Presence of Plant-Eating Aphids
Living organisms sometimes form symbiotic relationships where both parties get certain benefits. Now, aphids are known to secret certain sugary substances known as honeydew.
Ants consider such a favorite and will protect these aphids by attacking predators known to prey on aphids.
This action ensures the constant supply of the sugary stuff. So how does this affect your lawn? Sadly, these aphids feed on your grasses. Here, the destruction of grasses due to aphid activity can be tied to ant presence.
Aphids get to thrive with aphid predators like ladybirds being attacked by ants.
Best Ant Killers For Lawns
When it comes to ant control in lawns, you can implement various methods. These can be broadly categorized into natural and chemical products.
Most people love natural techniques because they have no side effects and tend to be safer. Let’s have a look at both treatment approaches.
i. Natural Ant Killers for Lawns
As the name suggests, natural methods are mostly organic ways to eliminate an ant problem.
Examples of these natural treatment methods include diatomaceous earth, soapy water, and boiling water. Strategies you shouldn’t use include chili powder, white vinegar, and salt.
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Diatomaceous Earth
This is a naturally occurring pesticide that looks powdery but is sharp to cut through the bodies of insects such as ants. They’re unable to survive and die due to dehydration.
To use this product, all you have to do is sprinkle around areas with the most ant activity.
However, you shouldn’t expect immediate results as this may take some time ranging from a few days to a week or more. Diatomaceous earth poses no harm to humans or pets, thus making it ideal for ant treatment in lawns.
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Soapy Water
Ordinary soapy water can be of great help in resolving your ant problem.
This natural insecticide solution only needs to contain about 3% soap or detergent in a water bottle. It does not harm your grass and can be sprayed around affected areas without worry.
When soaked with soapy water, ants suffocate. These insects, like many others, breathe through their exoskeletons. With soapy water covering their body, it becomes difficult to breathe.
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Boiling Water
If soapy water doesn’t sound like a good idea, consider applying some boiling water to your lawn.
Now, it’s essential to understand that boiling water must not be poured directly on the grasses as it could scald them. Instead, it would be best to target ant hills for this treatment.
To make it more effective, you could dig a little around areas you’ve noticed ant presence the most and pour to kill them.
ii. Chemical Ant Killers for Lawns
Chemical treatments are another category you can adopt to save your lawn.
Here, a wide range of chemical products is used. There are tons of products manufactured by various brands for ant control in lawns.
Examples of such products include Syngenta Advion Fire Ant Bait, Amdro Fire Ant Bait Granules, Spectracide Fire ant Killer Mound Destroyer Granules, Bayer Advanced Complete Ant Killer Plus, and BioAdvanced Fire Ant Killer Dust. You can apply these and many more to rid your lawns of ants.
Which treatment option do you prefer? Whatever your preferences are, ant problems in lawns can be overcome by these methods.