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marciaz3

Finally! A tip to get rid of ants!

I've been dealing with ant hills in a couple of my gardens for years now and nothing has worked to get rid of them. But i just read something that makes a lot of sense and that i'm going to try as soon as they're active in the spring. Scoop up one ant hill and dump it on the other. Because ants are territorial, they'll finish each other off! The way i look at it, i may have to do it a couple of times, but it sounds like something that should work.

Boy, am i excited now! LOL

Comments (11)

  • nutsaboutflowers
    12 years ago

    That sounds like a really cool idea =:) Ant fight ! Let us know how you make out.

    If it doesn't work, and you're not near any of your flower beds......

    I had a huge ant hill in the middle of my lawn, right where I stand to admire and deadhead a flower bed. I normally leave ants alone, but they didn't belong in my spot. I poured a kettle of boiling water on them, waited about 10 minutes, dug a small hole and poured in another kettle of water, waited until there was no activity, dug the hole to about 8 inches deep, repeated the boiling water and the process, and then did it for the fourth time. My hole ended up being almost a foot deep, but the little b*ggers never returned =:) I filled the hole back up and it didn't take very long for the grass to grow back in.

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    The two bad hills that i have are right in flower beds. People say that ants don't harm your plants, and they probably don't on purpose, but i'm pretty sure that their tunneling takes soil away from the roots and that equals dead plants. Happened a few times to me.

    Maybe i should have a video cam going when i do this, eh? :>

  • nutsaboutflowers
    12 years ago

    Marcia, a video on YouTube would be hilarious !

    If "Charlie Bit Me" can get over 424,000,000 views, just think, you and your ant fight could be famous, LOL !

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Never heard of that one... Just not part of the 424 million, i guess! LOL Ant Wars - maybe they could start a new game on Facebook!

  • hmacdona1
    12 years ago

    Can't stand ants...even though they don't directly harm your plants...where there's ants, I always find aphid colonies nearby. Ants love to farm aphids....and those nasty things wreak havoc on my beloved plants....Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    So, Heather, we'll have opposing Ant Wars videos on You Tube this summer? LOL

  • bdgardener
    12 years ago

    Just a note, my mom saves all her coffee grounds all winter and then puts them in all her flower beds, she says the ants move to the neighbors. I would love to try this myself but the closest neighbor is 1/2 mile away, I love my coffee but it would take me years to get rid of them all. C

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Hm, my neighbours aren't quite that far away - it's a thought!

  • swontgirl_z5a
    12 years ago

    I am going to have to try this too. I have had them in the same 2 spots in one garden for years. They have buried shrubs, perennials and annuals killing them. Wonder if you need exactly the same number of ants though?:)

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I'm thinking some might survive the war, but it'll be easier to get rid of a few with borax and icing sugar, rather than a few million!

  • luckygal
    12 years ago

    Usually I leave ants alone altho last year there seemed to be so many that I declared war on them. I bought a borax liquid and poured some into several oyster shells and placed them right on top of the ant hill. They ants immediately went crazy for it and some even drowned in the liquid. The entire colony was finished off. So easy that I will use it again if the ant hills near the house annoy me.