Get Rid of Ants Naturally

Ants in your home are not welcomed guests. It's very embarrassing to have guests watch a trail of these tiny pests feeding on crumbs from your counter! You hesitate at the thought of spraying your kitchen and home with poisons to get rid of them! Try some of these organic less toxic tips before using the pesticides!

If you find an ant nest on the outside of your home, douse it with boiling water containing a couple of teaspoons of dish washing liquid.

Inside your home keep foods picked up and counters wiped clean of crumbs and spills. Food and water attract ants.

Sprinkle borax powder in cracks and crevices inside and outside the home, in areas where pets and kids will not come in contact with it. One neat bait trick is a shallow lid containing a well blended mix of borax and honey, jelly or syrup. The ants are attracted to the sweets, and the borax makes short work of the ants.

In places where you worry that kids or pets will get into it, try sprinkling cayenne pepper power. If it's outside, you might be willing to risk planting mints to deter the ants in spite of the mint's invasive nature.

You can also make a compost tea by steeping some of your compost in water for a couple of weeks and keeping that nasty smelling stuff on hand as an insecticide. Add some cayenne pepper powder for added power!

If you've got aphids in the garden, treat these while trying to get rid of the ants. Ants and aphids stick together.

Seal up the cracks around your foundation and windows with silicone caulk.

If ants are climbing a pole or wire to get into your home, coat several inches of it with petroleum jelly. The ants can't get through it.

Encourage toads and other little reptiles by providing nooks and crannies in the garden outside your doors for them to hide in. They will eat some ants, and lots of other creepy crawlers in the yard.

If these tricks fail, try using ant baits available from your grocery store. Place twice the recommended number for best results, especially if you have a bad infestation. Give them a couple of weeks to show results. Replace them as soon as you see even one more ant returning to your home.

If you have a particularly bad infestation of ants, you may need to resort to your handy pest control company. But, try these organic methods first and see if you can avoid using pesticides in the place where you live, eat and breathe!

Unless you live in a warm region where your biggest ant problem concerns those vicious fire ants, or unless you are allergic to their bites, ants are usually more of a nuisance than a real problem. In the garden their digging loosens your soil, helping it to remain aerated. If they're inside your house, however, you probably will want to try some of these tricks in and near your house to make it less attractive to them.
Source: Garden Pros