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Old 11-07-2008, 12:02 PM
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Hi All,

Does anyone have a surefire way of erradicating ants from a lawn ?, they have been digging it up every year and is becoming very anoying, no sooner do I dig the patch, and reseed than they are back.

I have tried ant powder etc but to no avail

TIA
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Old 11-07-2008, 12:06 PM
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Nothing short of an anteater will work IMO.
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Old 11-07-2008, 12:10 PM
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the only way i've found for complete eradication, is to kill the nest, and queen, i had loads, of ants when i first moved in, and i tried all the ant baits powders etc. in the end i traced the nests, opened them up, and poured loads of boiling water on them, killing the queen, eggs, and must of the ants. you can also do it by pouring petrol over the nest and setting light to it, which is loads quicker than the boiling water, as i found out after .... you need a lot of boiling water.
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Old 11-07-2008, 12:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lynda66 View Post
the only way i've found for complete eradication, is to kill the nest, and queen, i had loads, of ants when i first moved in, and i tried all the ant baits powders etc. in the end i traced the nests, opened them up, and poured loads of boiling water on them, killing the queen, eggs, and must of the ants. you can also do it by pouring petrol over the nest and setting light to it, which is loads quicker than the boiling water, as i found out after .... you need a lot of boiling water.
Tried that last year, the boiling water but they still come back,, maybee I should try the petrol,, would that not contaminate the soil though ?.
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Old 11-07-2008, 12:21 PM
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don't think so, as it burns away, and i light my bonfires with petrol, and things keep growing there, obviously you'll get some scorching of the grass, and may have to put some seeds in, but as you will have had to dig to get to the heart of the nest, you'd have to do that anyway.

if they come back, its because you haven't killed the queen/s.

Ant colony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Queen ant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Last edited by lynda66; 11-07-2008 at 12:26 PM.
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Old 11-07-2008, 12:26 PM
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Great, thankyou for that,, will do it right now,, little bu**ers are climbing on the trelis aswell and eating my new clematis,, maybee I will burn that down too, love a good bonfire
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Old 11-07-2008, 12:35 PM
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that works too, just have a bonfire on top of the nest
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Old 11-07-2008, 04:21 PM
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put semolina,polenta or couscous in a shallow dish,i used a coffee jar lid,and nearly filled it,within a few days all the red ants had gone,if the dish becomes empty,top it up,i would think the little devils only come out when is dry and sunny,if your come out in the wet,put a shelter over it like a ice cream tub with notches around the rim,like when making slug traps,this definately works,look it up on the search,top of page.
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Old 11-07-2008, 04:26 PM
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yeah, but thats not as much fun as setting fire to them
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Old 11-07-2008, 04:41 PM
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You can't eliminate all the ants. A reduction in the number of ants is all that can be hoped for. There can be numerous nests in a lawn ~ & new nests are made every year.

They hate having their nests disturbed, and hate wet beds, so repeatedly pour water on the nest (cold is okay ... boiling water will kill your grass too).
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Old 11-07-2008, 04:46 PM
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Ok, Bonfire still smouldering, well the lawn is anyway, got so fed up with patching here, patching there, so dug the lot soaked in petrol and WHOSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh, hopefully that will be the end to the blighters for a while,, now though when Mrs Chillimad gets in I am gonna be in trouble hehehee, me think the space would be far better used as a veg patch, 20' X 15' of veggies,, wish me luck
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Old 11-07-2008, 05:26 PM
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BEST OF LUCK,especially if she used the lawn ,
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Old 11-07-2008, 05:30 PM
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Yes she liked sunbathing, but will now have to use the patio, now I am getting nervous,,,,,,,,,,,oops what have I done, worst bit is the smell of petrol and burnt grass thouought the house,, worse now,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ITS RAINING AGAIN
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Old 11-07-2008, 05:42 PM
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You did it for her you must remember.

You could not bear the thought of all those ants disturbing her sunbathing and while the weather was not right for sunbathing, you thought now is the time to make things absolutely perfect for her.

Now grass is not the best pace for sunbathing, decking or a patio is far better, a nice firm surface. So on reflection you think it would be best to arrange things to suit her purposes on the patio and as the lawn is now such a mess but ant free and needs completely digging over, why not grow some veg to take the strain off her arms a bit on the shopping.

It is your husbandly duty to rip up the lawn and grow veg.
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Old 11-07-2008, 05:45 PM
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You did it for her you must remember.

You could not bear the thought of all those ants disturbing her sunbathing and while the weather was not right for sunbathing, you thought now is the time to make things absolutely perfect for her.

Now grass is not the best pace for sunbathing, decking or a patio is far better, a nice firm surface. So on reflection you think it would be best to arrange things to suit her purposes on the patio and as the lawn is now such a mess but ant free and needs completely digging over, why not grow some veg to take the strain off her arms a bit on the shopping.

It is your husbandly duty to rip up the lawn and grow veg.
ROFLMAO, I love it, thanks so much,, 15 mins till she gets in, should give me time to get this grin off my face
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Old 11-07-2008, 05:52 PM
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If you must, grow some mint in a bucket or something, "that dear is for you to add to a nice refreshing drink while you sunbathe"

When she needs to cool off once and a while, you could suggest maybe she could run the hose over the veg at the same time
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Old 11-07-2008, 07:12 PM
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i'd just say nowt ........ and see if she notices ....... i mean, she's not likely to be sunbathing in this weather anyway ........ and if you get a couple of garden gnomes (with shovels) you can say it was all them
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Old 11-07-2008, 07:34 PM
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Any single females on here ??











Phew, that was a tough one, but in the end she knows it makes sence,,, now she is going through the seed catalogues,, looks like I scored a victory,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Finally

Last edited by Chillimad; 11-07-2008 at 07:36 PM.
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Old 11-07-2008, 09:30 PM
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We had 2 ants nests last year, one by the patio doors and one in the wall of the house.
I put down two little round tubs of ant killer that I brought from Wilkinsons(can`t remember what it was called but the tubs were red and they had a big ant on the top). The ants crawl inside get stuff on their feet and trample it back to the nest. I put a brick on the top of each one so the dogs wouldn`t eat them and this year no ants.
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Old 11-07-2008, 11:04 PM
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Quote:
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Any single females on here ??

Phew, that was a tough one, but in the end she knows it makes sence,,, now she is going through the seed catalogues,, looks like I scored a victory,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Finally
lol, she might want to just grow flowers

see it all worked out in the end, and hopefully no more ants ..... well till the next lot move in
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