Red Ants, how to get rid?!

[mumofone]

Ive got red ants in my garden and the children are complaining of being bitten (oops!), anyone had these and successfully got rid of them? Any tips please? :-)

[shortstuff]

have you tried a kettle full of boiling water? Might not be humane but i believe it is effective. Especially if poured in the nest

[Simona]

Ive got red ants in my garden and the children are complaining of being bitten (oops!), anyone had these and successfully got rid of them? Any tips please? :-)

You can use ant powder and that is very quick indeed.

Red ants are also flying ants and come out in very warm and humid weather

Find the nest and Spray it in the evening when the children are not there...the next morning hose down the powder so the children cannot get to it and ingest it.

BBC - Gardening - Advice: Pest and disease identifier (http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/advice/pests_and_diseases/identifier.shtml?garden_ants)

[FussyElmo]

Control
Unless their nests are particularly troublesome, ants are best left alone. If a colony is destroyed it is likely that its place will be taken by incoming queen ants, which take over the territory and establish new nests. Disperse ant heaps on lawns by brushing the excavated soil on a dry day before the lawn is mown, otherwise the soil will get smeared on the lawn surface by the mower. If the lawn has an uneven surface due to years of ant activity, peel back the turf in the raised areas, remove excess soil and relay the turf. This is easier to do in the winter when ants are less active.

There is not a lot you can really do about ants in your lawn, except get a bit mad and go blue in the face. Raise the mower setting and pick a nice dry day and scatter the anthills with a besom broom or a stiff garden broom just ahead of mowing. You could control the ants in your pathways and building lines and try and prevent them getting to your lawn in the first place - a case of prevention is better than cure.

Nippon Powder for Ant ControlMany proprietary ant powders, baits, sprays and aerosols are available for controlling ants in and near buildings, but these are not suitable for general garden use. To make a real impression on ant numbers it would be necessary to destroy the nests rather than just the foraging ants. That is difficult to achieve as ant nests occupy a much larger volume of soil than might be suggested by the small heaps of soil excavated on to the surface. Take a look at the Vitax - Nippon Range of Ant Control Products which are available from Garden Centes or your local DIY Warehouse or greener alternatives are available online from Green Gardener

A pathogenic nematode, Steinernema feltiae, is available from some mail order suppliers of biological controls for treating ant nests in lawns and flower beds. The microscopic worm-like nematodes are watered into the soil in places where ants are bringing soil up onto the surface.

With thanks to the The Royal Horticultural

[FussyElmo]

^^^^^^

Copied and pasted there are all sorts of home remedies that claim to help.

My mil swore vinegar worked :thumbsup:

[mama2three]

Someone sugested boiling water to me years ago - so off I went with the kettle . of course all that actually happened was that I then had ants AND yellow brown circles of dead grass all over the lawn!!

[mumofone]

Someone sugested boiling water to me years ago - so off I went with the kettle . of course all that actually happened was that I then had ants AND yellow brown circles of dead grass all over the lawn!!

Lol!!! Oh I was about to try that one as well!! :-)