As the weather heats up, this is the ideal opportunity for ant colonies to make the most of the conditions.
Although tiny, such pests are more active during summer months to collect and store food for their colony — often causing havoc to our yards in the process.
And if you’ve spotted large ant hills ruining your lawn or yard, this can be a gardener’s nightmare. Not only do these mounds of soil look unsightly, but can make your lawn care regime challenging, especially when they’ve already invaded the space.
Luckily, there are a few simple ways to get rid of ant hills and prevent them from taking over your yard.
What’s more, these will take no time at all, and won’t even require any toxic chemicals (or a blowtorch!).
So before your yard gets overrun with "tiny destroyers", check out these top tips for getting rid of ant hills this summer.
1. Flooding
As the name suggests, this simply involves placing your watering hose near an ant hill, and letting it run for at least 3-5 minutes until the water starts to pool.
Essentially, the flooding method should cause the ant tunnels to collapse underneath, making it harder for ants to return. Bear in mind, you might need to do this method several times on larger hills for it to be effective.
2. Boiling water
Another simple method is to carefully pour boiling water directly over the ant hills. This should instantly collapse the hills, killing existing colonies, and is more effective for smaller ant hills.
Again, you may have to do this several times to be effective, ideally, once a week to prevent further colonies.
Just be careful not to pour hot water near any plants or seedlings, as this will kill any new growth.
3. Dish soap and water
Similarly, you can create a DIY dish soap solution to kill ant colonies and prevent hills. Simply mix a squirt of dish soap with boiling water and slowly pour the solution directly into ant hills.
The dish soap works by breaking down the ants' protective outer skin/layer that will lead to dehydration and death.
4. Baking soda and vinegar
These two staple ingredients are often found in our kitchen cupboards.
And while we all know how baking soda and white vinegar are good for cleaning, these can also make an effective ant repellent.
You can simply pour vinegar directly onto ant hills to kill ants, or combine it with baking soda to make ant tunnels collapse, and prevent infestations.
Again, remember not to use vinegar near plants as this will kill new growth.
5. Diatomaceous Earth
Given its name, diatomaceous earth (DE) is not actually earth — or even soil.
It’s a food-grade powder made up of tiny fragments of fossilized marine organisms, making it entirely natural and organic.
What’s more, gardeners swear by DE as a great pest control in the garden, and can be sprinkled directly onto ant hills.
Plus, this is ideal for getting rid of slugs or other pests that can eat away and damage plants and vegetables.
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