I've got thousands of ants, please help

helen_roberts_2

I've got thousands of ants on my grass. Black ants and ted ants, loads of nests. I've got 3 children under 4 and they are freaking out. What can I do to get rid of them that's safe for the children. The ants are completely ruining the time we have in the garden, I can't relax and the children don't like going out there now.

Please help

janibrown

Do you know where the nests are? If so pour boiling water on them or try a blow torch I had loads of them in my last house and the boiling water worked well poured about 10 kettles and they dissapered hope this works for you have heard that moth ball also work but you would have to keep them away from the children

geri1965_2

I was going to post a thread about ants but I may as well tag my question on to the end of this one, I guess.

I have an ants nest in my front garden by the wall - it's not bothering me but I wonder if they are doing any harm? I also need to paint the wall soon, will I be killing them by doing this? I live to live and let live in the garden, if possible.

soul619

i had this, in the house too! i used nippon its nearly a fiver in focus but morrisons do it for about 3 quid and it works really well. you could cover the garden and just keep the kids off it for a few days then soak it with a hose pipe to get rid of it after its done its job

katholicos

I don't do 'live and let live'. Nuke 'em is what i say. I've had problems with ants for the last 10.5 years of living here. They infested the house for years and i stopped going in the garden because i just couldn't get away from them.

Things were so bad in my house that I used to come downstairs in the morning and find hundreds of ants climbing the walls and winged ones flying around etc. I had rentokil in and everything and the little you-know-whats still survived. I even set fire to my lounge once (accidentally i must add) trying to fill in nooks and crannies around the fireplace (memo to self: read packaging for flamability factor next time). Felt a right numpty when the firemen and fire engine came and i had to explain i set fire to my fire using flamabble foam filler....i'm a dork what can i say....

Anyway, i tell you this because i want you to know that i put up with a LOT. Now, at every opportunity, by fair means or foul, i kill the critters whenever i see them. I don;t at the moment have them in the house...but they are everywhere in the garden, dozens of colonies. ...i daren't even have my backdoor open because they pour in through the door if it is left ajar...very inconvenient on hot summer days. I use ant sprays and ant bait traps, hot water, borax mixtures...everything i can.

With having little ones to consider, I think that what might work for your lawn is to nematode it maybe. Have a look at this page for more info.

barrymung

Look for a product called "Armillatox" in your local garden centre.

It's now marketed as an antiseptic cleaner due to EU rules but was previously marketed as a garden pest chemical.

Dilute it about 2:1 with water, make a hole in the centre of the nest and insert a funnel. Pour the armillatox solution slowly into the nest allowing it to soak thoroughly.

If the ants are still there in a few days then repeat.

Be aware that it'll kill any grass that it comes into contact with so take care. It also stinks (Bit like creosote) so don't get it on your clothes or fingers!

It's the only product I have found that permanently removes ants.

Primrose

You can buy Ant Bait Stations from any good hardware shop or garden centre - they're basically little covered plastic containers with poisoned ant bait in them, with tiny little holes so that the ants can crawl in, eat the bait and take it back to their nests where all the ants are eventually poisoned. The ones we've used are pretty effective and get rid of the ants within 48 hours. At first you may see an increase in the number of ants around the bait station.. This is because it's a pretty addictive substance for them and they flock to it. The more they all come, the quicker they all die!

danielle1977

I had loads all round my compost bin, take the lid off and they were crawling everywhere I read somewhere that cinnamon is good for killing them, brought some for less than £2 off ebay and I think it killed most of them, it definetly wasn't as bad as before, this year we don't have half as many in the compost bin