Ant hills

[steve_ruskington]

I live in lincolnshire and my lawn currently has 10 or more ant hills on it. This has increased by about 5 ant hills since last year, where I forked them up and sprayed ant powder down, but it made a mess of the lawn. How can I get rid of them, a colleague suggested boiling water?? please help. thanks in advance.

Steve

Ruskington.

[goosey]

Hello Steve, I am so sorry I can't help with with your ant problem (no lawn ) but I hope someone else can. Welcome to WAB .

[demicav]

Hello Steve, welcome to WAB. Ants are amazing creatures, why kill them . Then again I don't have a lawn, just a jungle . I leave it to the wildlife. Can't help with your problem, sorry, but sure someone will have some ideas.

[mrs fish]

Hello and welcome to WAB

You need some green woodpeckers for your ants nests they love ants and their eggs.
What sort of area do you live in?
Being a wildlife lover I would suggest you don't use ant powder in case you do have any wild creatures eating the ants.
Sorry i don't have any ideal suggestions.

[demicav]

We did have an ant problem ourselves once, sorry forgot to mention it before. It was in another property several years ago. Now I don't like to kill anything but they were taking over the kitchen so measures had to be put in place. We purchased an ant trap, they're small and very effective. The ants go inside, take the bate and then return back to the queen and feed her the poison. The idea is that ants are programmed to behave a certain way but once the queen is dead they lose their purpose and the problem usually resolves. Powder is a waste of time as it doesn't get to the root of the problem, which is for every one you kill the queen replaces it with hundreds more. Kill the queen solve the problem. Like I've said before though they're wonderful insects and I would only kill them if the problem was severe.

[steve_ruskington]

Many thanks for the replies.
I am loath to kill them per se, as last year I had four dragon flies in the garden and you could clearly hear them feeding on the flying ants, plus the various birds that visit the garden can be seen picking at the nests. Its just that as the ant nest appear they make a mess of the grass that they push up through, perhaps I could encourage them to build the nests in the boarders of the garden?? any ideas??
tks

[oceanroc]

Boiling water works for me. We have had big problems in the past with ants but have always had success with boiling water. My granny used it too when she was alive and she was the daughter of a market gardener and a very wise woman. That would be my recommendation anyway.

Not very PC but I am inclined to think ants are rather pointless. Ooops...I am bound to have upset someone now aren't I!

Good Luck,

Rachel

[FungiJohn]

Hi Steve and a very warm welcome to WAB from me too. Enjoy!
John

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by oceanroc

Not very PC but I am inclined to think ants are rather pointless. Ooops...I am bound to have upset someone now aren't I!

Good Luck,

Rachel

well you haven't upset me, but I think its worth pointing out that they feed hundreds of other species - other invertebrates, birds, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, create drainage in the soil and as they can be predatory I imagine that they keep down smaller pests too (not including scale insects and aphids _). Not to mention they seem to be able to manage and run a tight society with far greater ease than ourselves....
So.... so long as you don't value wildlife and the natural ecosystem in our country yes they are pretty pointless!!

[demicav]

Originally Posted by oceanroc

Boiling water works for me. We have had big problems in the past with ants but have always had success with boiling water. My granny used it too when she was alive and she was the daughter of a market gardener and a very wise woman. That would be my recommendation anyway.

Not very PC but I am inclined to think ants are rather pointless. Ooops...I am bound to have upset someone now aren't I!

Good Luck,

Rachel

No creature is pointless. They're all part of a delicate balance in the eco system. I have to remind myself of that fact every time I see a big house spider

[GME]

Originally Posted by steve_ruskington

perhaps I could encourage them to build the nests in the boarders of the garden?? any ideas??
tks

That would be nice. It would be fun to think you could just tell them directly. Your own little army You could take over the world and become the world's first human dictator Ant, er, Queen!!

Regards
Megalomaniac

Seriously tho, someone on here put me onto what looks like it'll be a great watch on National Geographic this Sunday (It's also repeated at various other times and dates).

"8.00pm Sunday Night Special: Micro Safari: Journey to the Bugs with Nigel Marven

What would it be like coming face to face with a spider the size of a car? Or drinking honeydew direct from the bum of an aphid? In his latest wildlife adventure, intrepid zoologist Nigel Marven shrinks himself to the size of a bug, to explore the fabulously rich yet overlooked tangle of a typical suburban garden. There could be as many as eight thousand different species living outside your back door - but have you any idea who they are, or what they're up to? Nigel discovers that our ponds and patios play host to a truly amazing caste of tiny creatures, from lone assassins to marauding armies …from bustling farmers to grisly grave-diggers"

Could be worth a look to see why your ants like your lawn so much?!

Gareth

[oceanroc]

O.K. so I was wrong about ants being pointless. It was a flippant remark and scientifically accurate. I was wrong.
Sorry.

[oceanroc]

I meant inaccurate

[puzzler]

Hi Steve, Thanks for bringing that problem up, I have the same problem with ant hills...Nice to hear some solutions, They do rather take over in the house, have had to put powder down in doors,
feel really bad about that...Anyhow welcome to WAB...Cath xxx