Ways to Keep Ants Away from Your Garden Plants: Tips for Natural Control, Ideas to Get Rid

Ants can be a real pain in your yard or garden. However, gardening is a task that requires constant attention if you have ants in the garden. It is important to know how to keep ants out of your garden to make sure they are pleasant and inviting. Below are some applications that can be easily prepared at home and sprayed on plants to get rid of ants. Let’s check out a few ways to keep ants away from your garden plants.

Common types of ants found in the garden

Getting to know the species of ants that attack your plants is the first step to getting rid of them. There are currently more than 10,000 species of ants in the world. Many of them are extinct or do not attack plants, here are some common ants that you will find in your garden.

Lasius Niger (common black garden ant)
Lasius Flavia (yellow grass field ant)
Fire ant
Crematogaster (acrobat ant)

Natural ways to keep ants away from your garden plants

Keep ants away from coffee grounds

These are a great way to get rid of carpenter ants naturally and also eliminate fire ants, black ants, red ants, and other species of ants, without your family or pets. After finishing your morning coffee, collect the wet grounds. Sprinkle them around the garden and anywhere you want to protect them from ants. Ants do not like the strong smell of coffee, which interferes with their scent-based communication.

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Use hot/cold water

For eliminating ants in the garden, you need to find their nest with their colonies. Killing the workers, you see that the nest is still around so it will be no more than a walk around because the queen will lay more eggs and will soon take their place. If you can see their nest, one surefire way to kill ants is to pour hot water into their colony.

Because our purpose is not to damage the garden, where the ants’ colonies are located near the plants, the use of hot water would not be appropriate as it could harm the plants. Although cold water will not kill the ants, using cold water instead will wet the area and repel the ants.

Repel ants with baking soda

Baking soda is a wonderful home product that you can use for millions of different purposes. Baking soda also makes for an excellent ant repellent. This is one of the best home remedies for garden pests and other pests that you will find.

Baking soda ant repellent

1 cup baking soda
Gloves
Small rake

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Baking soda ant repellent — Image Source

Use the rack to smooth the area you want to protect. Sprinkle baking soda on the ground, making sure the ants leave a layer everywhere. Reapply baking soda once a week or after rain.

Fresh garlic

Garlic is natural pest removal. This unique herb is not only good for your health but also helps to get rid of all kinds of insects and ants from your garden. Ants cannot tolerate the smell of garlic, so keep two cloves of fresh garlic peeled at the entrance of your house or near the house of ants.

Boric acid and sugar

This is probably the most effective home remedy to get rid of ants. Carefully mix the boric acid with the sugar until it turns into a paste and applies a small amount of paste around the entrails of the ant’s nest. The ants like sweets and so they will be drawn to the paste, they will eat some and take the rest back to the queen’s nest. Shortly after eating the sweet paste, boric acid will cause the queen and other ants to die.

Discourage ants with dish soap

Liquid dish soap is another multi-useful kitchen product. It also makes a great ant repellent and is one of the best natural ways to keep your plants away.

Dish soap ant repellent recipe

2 cups cold water
1 tablespoon liquid dish soap
5 drops of essential oil
Spray bottle

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Dish soap is a great home remedy for carpenter ants, sugar ants, and more, which seem to invade the yard whenever you don’t want them. Fill a spray bottle with soap and water to make this simple recipe. Add essential oils of your choice to improve the scent and add extra ant repellent power.

Spray on all the plants you want to protect from ants. Also, use this solution in the garden to keep earwigs away. It serves many purposes of pest control and will not harm children or pets. Repeat the application after the rainstorm. You can increase the percentage of soap if needed, but a strong solution can damage plants, so be careful.

Eliminate ants with diatomaceous earth

There are several effective ant killers that you can make at home, such as a homemade fire ant killer with vinegar. When you want to get rid of any ants, however, one of your best choices is Diatomaceous Earth.

Diatomaceous earth microscopes are composed of algae fossils. It removes ants, flies, and other insects from dehydration in a few days. For eliminating ants, you will need to use food-grade diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle it on the ground near the nesting and ant trails, and wait. After a few days, the ants will start to die. This will work if you don’t have rain and don’t water the area around the ant mound.

Use orange seed spray

Orange spray can be purchased from local garden stores or even made at home. This spray is safe for both plants and humans because it is a household product. However, orange peel is not very effective in repelling ants as it works to suffocate ants and remove them or their waxy coating but its odor is hardly strong enough to cause this effect.

Cinnamon

This is a much clearer way to prevent cinnamon ants from destroying your plant. Keep it around the plant and it should keep some ants out. However, it can struggle to keep out certain types of ants. Cinnamon repels ants and does not kill them, so this is a more humane method. Carefully sprinkle some cinnamon around the base of the plant.

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Vinegar

Vinegar is effective in getting rid of ants in the garden. To repel ants, mix equal amounts of water and vinegar (white or apple cider) and spray the solution on the ant hills in your garden. The strong aroma of vinegar will protect the ants from being sprayed with vinegar.

Vaseline

It is the old trick to keep ants away from the kitchen larder is an old trick. The sticky texture of petroleum jelly repels away the pesky little critters. To use it properly, you must first find out where the ants are coming from. Once you’ve identified their entry points and usual locations, just apply some Vaseline to those areas.

Bay leaves

Use fragrant bay leaves to keep ants away from the garden. They can’t stand the stench and immediately turn to a safe, low-risk shelter. For some protection, place some bay leaves on the window or door.

Take out the ants with Cayenne pepper

Cayenne pepper is more than just a condiment. It is a source of capsaicin, which allows hot peppers to heat and bite. Cayenne is a natural ant repellent. You can use red pepper to keep ants away.

Cayenne Pepper Ant Repellent

Rubber gloves
Goggles
Mask
Cayenne pepper
Small rake

Sprinkle cayenne in the same way you spray baking soda. Cover any traffic areas and areas you want to prevent ant infection. If it rains, apply cayenne pepper. Always wear protective equipment when handling red pepper so as not to irritate your eyes and nose.

Plants that keep ants away from the garden

One of our best defenses can start with what kind of plants work best to control ants. The dual benefit is that many of these plants may be what you already want in your garden. When it comes to controlling ants, many herbs are suitable for it, and many of them are a beautiful addition to any garden. Ants hate these plants. These plants will significantly reduce the likelihood of ants in your garden;

Tomatoes
Rosemary
Lavender
Catnip
Mint
Marigolds
Thyme
Tansy

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Lavender plant to keep ants away from Garden — Image Source

In addition to the herbs that act as an organic repellents, planting garlic in your garden can help. It also provides great protection against pests.

Professional methods to keep ants away from the garden

Ant Killer gel

Most garden centers sell ant poison that comes in the form of gels. It works just like boric acid and sugar. The ants are dragged to the sweet prison which is then taken to the nest for the queen to feast upon. Despite being a form of poison, the gel does not pose a threat to your garden or plants.

Ant killer poison

Powder poisons are best used against ants found inside or near your home as they can infect plants and change the soil due to their toxicity. If you choose to use powdered poison, be sure to take some precautionary measures, such as closing the poisoned area to keep pets and young children away. Spread it on a quiet day as the wind can carry the poison to neighboring gardens. Another point to keep in mind is that ants can slowly develop resistance to poison.

Professional extermination

If none of the above methods work and ants have invaded your garden, it may be time to consider hiring a professional to take care of the invasion.