I have lots of ants' nests in my lawn - help!

United Kingdom

Suffolk, good soil, tends to be dry - The nests form low humps in the grass and the grass turns brown (before the rest does!) I've tried discouraging them with a spade - no good. Chemical treatments would be expensive because of the area and number of nests, and I'd rather find a "natural" answer. Does anybody know of one?

13 Jul, 2009

Featured on:
lawn care

Answers

Noseypotter

not realy ant powder shouldnt hurt your grass though i know its not natural.just be thankfull there not fire ants yet lol.

13 Jul, 2009

Moon_grower

As Noseypotter says ant powder is the only thing that is likely to eradicate the ants. I'm not aware of a natural product that will do this but perhaps someone else can come up with a solution for you. You could try boiling water poured on the nest.

14 Jul, 2009

Oldsparky

Ant powder is a natural product, it's only Diatomaceous Earth (DE), look it up.
Another way to really get rid of ants in lawns is to water on some ant nematodes you can buy these from a lot of web sites, not cheap when you first look at it but very good at it's job and so good value in the end.
Try http://www.greengardener.co.uk

14 Jul, 2009

Bamboo

the only other natural way is to have a kettle full of boiling water available when you open up the nest and pour it in, and repeat this with each one. I know it'll mess up the lawn, but it's messed up anyway because of the ants.
You will, thoiugh probably always have this trouble - ants love sandy soil and dry conditions, loathe water. Pity you can't keep the lawn wetter - that'd certainly discourage them.

14 Jul, 2009

Noseypotter

i think the ant powder sounds the best no disrespect bamboo.

14 Jul, 2009

Moon_grower

Certainly easier

15 Jul, 2009

Noseypotter

cool

15 Jul, 2009

Bamboo

That's ok noseypotter - I might not agree with you, but I defend to the death your right to express your opinion!