Ants are the worst when it comes to damaging pests for your mulch beds. You want them out ASAP.
Luckily, there are multiple ways to do so and all of them are easy to apply. So, in this article, I will show you multiple ways on how to get rid of ants in mulch beds.
Stay with me for a while.
Effective Ways To Get Rid of Ants In Mulch
Let’s have a look at those ways first:
- Use insecticides
- Apply neem oil.
- The boil water treatment
- Making sweet traps
- Have bug-repellent plants.
- Spread Nematodes
- Apply Orange Peels
- And many more!
As you can see, I will talk about both organic and chemical ways to deal with your mulch infested with ants. Now, let’s talk about those methods one by one.
- Spread Nematodes
The reason I have recommended this method first because this is the most effective ways to remove ants from mulch unless we are talking about fire ants here.
Spread the nematodes using a hose-end sprayer onto and into the ant nest. Spread them around your garden too. You will notice significant reduction of ant population over time.
However, you need to get the beneficial nematodes.
Among the various kinds of nematodes, only the Steinernema carpocapsae is the most effective and beneficial nematodes that work against ants. Go to any organic chemical shop to buy it.
Beneficial nematodes have a lifespan of weeks once they are activated from their hibernated state. So, you may need to spread them more than once until they take out the entire ant population from the mulch beds.
- Ant Bait
You need to have Borax, sugar substitute, and honey to make this home-made ant bait method works. This is how you should do it…
Mix equal amount of the 3 items (preferably half tablespoon of each) to make a granular like paste. Now, spoon the mix into bottle caps and place those caps around the ant nest.
This should do it!
- Pour Boiling Water
It’s an organic way and involves spending no money but works FAST. If you seriously want to get rid of ants in mulch, you need to kill the ant queen.
The problem with killing the ant queen is that she does not get out of the colony at all but solely responsible to produce next generation of worker ants.
As she never leaves the colony, killing her inside the colony is the only way to kill the ant queen. This is easier than you think.
Just boil a kettle of water. Make the water super hot. Now, scrape the top of the ant hill away and pour the boiling water down into the ant nest.
If you pour enough hot water, it should reach the queen and kill her. Unlike other ant types. the worker ants will run away so you need to work fast.
The ant population will slowly die off as soon as the hot water kills the queen.
Leave the colonies alone for at least a week. If you notice any ant activities further, pour another kettle of hot boiling water!
- Bug Repellent Plants
Another organic way to solve your ants in mulch problem. It’s completely natural and perfect for those who can’t apply any chemical solutions.
Plants like Marigolds and Evening primroses are known to deter ants and both of them have lovely flowers to add extra beauty to your garden or yard.
- Use Orange Peels
This is another simple method to remove ants from the garden beds. You need to put 5 to 6 orange peels into some water and boil it on the pot.
Keep boiling until the peels become soft (boiling 15 minutes should do it). After that, put the peels and water into a food processor.
Now, make an orange slurry so that you can split them around the flower beds. I have seen many people got great result applying orange peels.
- Apply Food-Grade Diatomaceous Earth
Not just ants, Diatomaceous Earth (DE) can kill any pests by dehydrating them. If you have DE, you can spread the powder on the ant hill.
This method works best if you are dealing with shallow ant nests in the mulch. For deep nest, it may not work 100% since the powder may not reach every ant.
- Give Them A Dish Soap Bath
Another home-made and easy ant problem solution can be applying dish soap solution. And trust me, it works!
This is how you should apply this method…
Mix a teaspoon of dish soap with a pint of warm water. Mix the two thoroughly. Now, spray the solution around the mulch beds and plants in your yard.
- Peanut-Butter Poison
I know this works because I have tried it myself! All you need is a tablespoon of peanut butter, another tablespoon of sugar and Borax.
Now, stir the 3 items. Now, fill the peanut butter poison into some long pieces of plastic straws. Place those straws nearby the ant colonies like ant baits.
Ants like proteins and oil. So, they will take the bait and the Borax will kill them!
- Apply Neem Oil
Aphid farms that the ants are farming can severely damage your garden beds. But if you apply neem oil, that will remove such aphids.
Since you will be removing the food source of the ants, the ants will less likely be around that area. But yes, it won’t completely get rid of the ants in the grass.
For a complete ants’ removal from the mulch, you can apply the neem oil along with other methods mentioned in this article.
- Using Commercial Insecticides
If you need a fast-acting solution and you are not opposed to any chemical solution, you can think about applying any ant-targeted insecticides.
Now, I need you to be really careful before you any insecticides. Not all commercial insecticides are ant-targeted. Some of them works for other insects.
So, you need to pick the right one that will work for your ant problem. You should read the ingredients on the label to be sure about that. If it contains bifenthrin, it should work against ants.
Also, such insecticides may come in liquid or granule form. Both of them work.
Last, keep in mind that such insecticides are basically poison and potentially toxic for both kids and pets. You should not be using such insecticides if you have kids and pets.
Now, watch this video to clear a lot of confusion.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Ants need to eat like any living creature. So, they are basically there to have food and shelter. The same is true for any landscaping areas.
Yes. Wood mulch is very attractive to carpenter ants and other insects.
If you have tiny black ants in your mulch bad, then no. Because they don’t eat the plants. But I would not allow any type of ants around or near my garden or yard.
Cedar mulch can keep the ants away. More so, it keeps the carpet beetles, moths, mosquitoes, and other pests away.
I would not spray insecticides on mulch because it will kill all the beneficial organisms in the soil too.
Final Thoughts
When you have mulch infested with ants, it’s frustrating. They can ruin your mulch beds in no time. So you need to apply any of the methods mentioned above fast.
And that should not be a problem since you just learn several methods on mulch infested with ants, right?
Get in action fast and save your mulch beds!
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