Frickin' ANTS, Help Me Please...

[WhatInThe]

Do you have any bark mulch up against your foundation? Because I have heard you should keep mulch at least 5 feet away from the foundation because ants like to shelter their cities under it and if it's close to your house, inevitably they'll just travel straight up the foundation and in through tiny cracks.

Excellent point. That's why cedar mulch is recommended not bark. Ants will make a bridge out of anything including bark/chips. That means no vegetation touching the house, no branches period no matter the flower, bush, tree etc.

 

[Carla]

I used Terro a week ago and it seems to have worked. I have to keep checking, there are a lot o pavers, two walkways and a patio. Worked better than the sprays or anything else I have tried. Thanks for the tip, it was easy to use and effective.

 

[Ken N Tx]

I used Terro a week ago and it seems to have worked. I have to keep checking, there are a lot o pavers, two walkways and a patio. Worked better than the sprays or anything else I have tried. Thanks for the tip, it was easy to use and effective.

Yes it works....Takes about a week but they are gone!!!

 

[debbie in seattle]

I remember as a kid in Illinois someone left a sugar bowl on our table. Came home from school and there was a black trail from a window, down the wall, across the floor, up the table leg, across the table to the bowl. Don't know why I'd remember something like that or perhaps it was the hysterics going on when the rest of the family saw it. Needless to say, hate ants and am so glad we really don't have them out here.

 

[Carla]

I remember as a kid in Illinois someone left a sugar bowl on our table. Came home from school and there was a black trail from a window, down the wall, across the floor, up the table leg, across the table to the bowl. Don't know why I'd remember something like that or perhaps it was the hysterics going on when the rest of the family saw it. Needless to say, hate ants and am so glad we really don't have them out here.

I lived in very old home where there was an ant problem. Like you, they were coming up the wall at least 3" wide. They got into all my food--they even got into unopened jars! Even in the toothpaste! These were the little red ones! Exterminator told us they get into the foundations and continuously lay eggs. It was a real battle. There was a chemical on the market ( since been pulled) not environmentally friendly but we used it because this was an all-out-attack. I had to get rid of them. I won but it was not easy.

 

[WhatInThe]

I lived in very old home where there was an ant problem. Like you, they were coming up the wall at least 3" wide. They got into all my food--they even got into unopened jars! Even in the toothpaste! These were the little red ones! Exterminator told us they get into the foundations and continuously lay eggs. It was a real battle. There was a chemical on the market ( since been pulled) not environmentally friendly but we used it because this was an all-out-attack. I had to get rid of them. I won but it was not easy.

Might want to try keeping a 2-4" wide path of cedar mulch surrounding the house including sprinkling or laying right up to the walls of the house. It takes a while for the odors to soak into the surrounding/under lying soil but I've worked really hard keeping cedar mulch around the edges of the house and knock on wood cut the use of poison bait down in half and only have to spray where I've caught them coming in a few times a year. And destroy old colonies if you find them and clean any areas where there was a trail because they leave a scent for the rest of the colony to follow to food sources.