I use laundry borax on my natural stone patio to control ants and weeds and
I am pleased with the results. It doesn't eliminate all ants and all
weeds
but it definitely helps.
"cloud dreamer" <Stop@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:13c76smoduvj36c@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>P Crocker wrote:
>> Hello all from Nova Scotia. I'm hoping someone may have some info to
>> help
>> me. I have a huge ant problem in my yard. In our back yard we have no
>> grass, a pond surrounded by pea gravel pathways and stone, along with
>> concrete pathways with bricks bordering perennial beds. Our yard isn't
>> really very big, approx 30 x 30. In recent years we've had huge
numbers
>> of
>> ants (I think a lot of people have had) and I've always had aphids in
my
>> plum tree. This year however I've noticed aphids on my 3 clematises
and
>> on
>> a shrub in the front yard. I've never had before or heard of aphids on
>> clematises. I'm wondering if the huge number of ants have something to
>> do
>> with my increasing aphid population. My husband says ants "farm"
aphids,
>> I
>> think he means they sort of herd them 'cause the ants like the sticky
>> stuff
>> the aphids excrete after sucking the good out of a plant. Anyone know
>> anything about this? I use soapy water to combat aphids which does
kill
>> them, but often the damage is done. I know of nothing that will kill
>> large
>> amounts of ants. I know of the store bought and even home remedies but
>> they
>> are difficult to apply to an entire yard.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>
>
> Your husband is correct. The ants feed off the aphids sweet excretions
and
> will go as far as to protect the aphid eggs over the winter.
>
> The soap is the best solution for the aphids, but as long as the ants
are
> such a problem, so will be the aphids. The best solution for the ants if
> you have access to their nests is to simply make the area unlivable for
> them. Ants don't like a lot of water. If you continuously soak the nest,
> the ants will eventually move on...probably shack up with the neighbour.
> You can also rake the top of the nest...keep both up and they'll get fed
> up.
>
> There are other alternatives. Half and half sugar/baking soda
> combination - the sugar attracts them and they bring it home while the
> baking soda causes them to explode. There's also borax - I've never used
> it but some suggest it. I've never had much luck with commercial
anti-ant
> stuff.
>
> You could experiment with ways to keep the ants away from plants as
well.
> In my case, they went after my green peppers which were in 30L plastic
> pails. I relocated some of them and the aphids didn't return after I
> removed them. For some of the others, I wrapped some tape sticky side
out
> around the pail and made sure the leaves didn't hang below the tape or
> against something the ants could use as a bridge. It seemed to help but
I
> didn't get a second chance to experiment...I didn't bother with green
> peppers again. This idea might help with the tree, but I'm not sure what
> you can do about the shrubs. Others here might have more suggestions.
>
> :)
>
> --
>
> We must change the way we live,
> or the climate will do it for us.
|
