Ants in lawns

Hello. Ive just joined this forum in the hope that someone can help me with an ant problem. I have a fairly large lawn and it seems to have been over taken by red ants!! Does any one have any tips on how to get rid of them.......PLEASE. Thanks. :confused:
Dee2

 

hi dee2

im no expert but just found this

http://www.wilko.co.uk/ideascontent/garden/faq/lawn_001.htm


although the ant eater made me laugh a little

hope this helps a bit
lisa

 

Thanks Lisa,
That looks like a good site for all sorts of things. Ive tried the brushing before cutting and leaving the grass a little longer but it seems that the ants just throw out more soil to reach the fresh air!! The RHS doesnt really have anything useful to add except stripping off the grass and relaying it......too big a job for me Im afraid. Maybe I'll just have to find somewhere else to sit with my cup of tea. Thanks again.
Dee

 

I have something I would like to share with you. I read somewhere in GC that firming the lawn soil around where the ants were working would stop them no need for pesticide. As I have battled with ants, red and black, for years in my lawn I thought It would be worth worth a try. My big lawn has about 30 ant 'nests' and looks a mess and you can't sit or lay on it for fear of being bitten, usually somewhere awful. So I cut the grass short so I could see what I was doing then stomped, heeled, with a size 8 boot, over and around the infestations, great feeling, takes a little while and may look odd to anyone watching. Later on I repeated the process also the following day. The activity almost stopped immediately with the odd small resurgence. Now after 2 weeks virtually no ants and the lawn will soon recover from my efforts. Ants must have a cycle of regeneration and if it can be broken the problem should go away. It is good to be able to actually sit on the lawn. Whoever suggested this give yourself a pat, well done.

 

Well done and give yourself a pat on the back too, Hans.

 

Dont forget a puff of Nippon ant killer should that be acceptable to you.

 

I too am suffering from ants in my new lawn/garden. I have tried all means to get rid of them. Powders, sprays, boiling water, stamping down etc,etc....
I spoke to the council who said they'll only act if the ants are actually in the house, so I called Rentokil for a free survey. Apparently i have Roger's ants, a tropical variety relatively new to Britain. Powders, sprays are ineffectual and are not approved by the Soil Association.
These ants are also a nasty skin irritant and with my little boy just crawling, i've invested in a course of treatment. 225 quid for four organic treatments, no guarantee of success but the guy said the ants are usually gone by the third spray.

 

Seems I may have started up an ants nest on this!!! lol. I too tried the stomping thing and my size 5s seem to have done a reasonable job.....or maybe it was the fact that I cut the lawn very, very short (lowest setting on the mower) and stomped over anything that looks like it MIGHT move for a couple of days? I was told that if the grass is left longer the ants would just extend their mess trying to reach the sunlight and thats where the unsightly hills come into play so for me, short is best up to now. Ive been ant free for a couple of weeks now. Lets hope Hans that theyre not just in quiet mode eh? I also heard a kettle of boiling water works wonders but must admit to not having the heart to try it :rolleyes: For ants in the house I highly recommend a spray called 'Deathlac'. It lasts for 3 months or so, can be washed over and dries so it is invisible.

 

When I had red ants on my allotment eating my stawberries, I asked Chris Beardshaw(Flying Gardener) what he could reccommend and he said grow Black Peppermint, pick the leaves and dry them.Crush the leaves and sprinkle the mixture round the strawberries.

It worked for me, so a thought if you want to get rid of them naturally.

If not do as Hans says and try a very large sized boot.

Good Luck

Kandy

 

Still no ants in the lawn, boots ready to go into action at short notice should one dare to emerge.
They are organised insects and some harvest greenfly, and the like, in various trees and bushes in these occasions I do use powder [reluctantly].
Who was it who suggested stomping will he or her please stand up.
PS I did my stomping when the lawn was resonably soft and damp making it easy to firm up and trap the little bu**ers in.