Usually, ants are considered to be tireless builders and good helpers to humans in the fight against various harmful insects. But for gardeners and gardeners, these bugs are a real disaster.
Ants breed incredibly fast. In a short period of time, their numbers may increase by several dozen times. Such an army needs good nutrition.
In an effort to find food, the ant plague gradually spreads over the entire area of the site. Insects do not hesitate to do anything: they destroy seedlings, fruits, flower buds, berries, seeds of plants, devour the roots of plants. Fighting ants, which threaten to leave the plot without harvest - difficult and ungrateful, because their numbers are enormous, underground ant tunnels (shelters) can be measured in kilometers, and new ant hills appear on the soil surface at a rate of 1-3 pieces per week. Still, you can cope with this misfortune.
Why is it important to rid the garden or garden of ants?
In the suburban areas are usually found 2 types of ants: red mire and black garden. Insect nests are a complex system of oval chambers interconnected by passages. Very often, ants build an above-ground hill above the underground nests, the so-called "ant pile", it warms up well by the sun's rays and the ant offspring develops much better.
Reproduction of aphids is considered the greatest danger from ants.
Ants are very sensitive to this harmful insect, protect it, contributing to its active reproduction (bred aphid), as they feed on semi-digested juice, which periodically produces aphid. As a result, the hordes of aphids destroy young shoots and leaves of fruit trees, seedlings, flowers, berry crops. It is easy to guess that after such raids, the harvest can not count.
Another nuisance caused by ants is damage to the roots of fruit trees. Insects actively undermine the roots (especially if their house is built at the base of the trunk), the tree gradually withers and dries out after a while.
Ants do not mind to eat already ripe fruits and berries. They especially love strawberries.
Methods of dealing with ants at their summer cottage
If on your site the main property is a garden - the result of many years of work, you should take care to limit the access of ants to the trees. After their invasion, the root system of the tree may suffer, as well as an aphid, which the ants will propagate on young shoots and leaves.
There are several ways to block ants from access:
- whitewash lime. Lime will scare away insects, and discourage the desire to climb trees. For greater effect, it is worth treating with lime and soil around the trunks;
- duct tape. Wrapping trunks with adhesive tape can protect trees not only from ants, but also from malicious caterpillars and small beetles;
- foil skirts. Foil skirts can be made around the trunks. First, the lower part of the tree is wrapped in foil, then a semblance of a skirt with sharp edges is made from above. Ants do not have the flexibility, they will not be able to overcome the sharp edges;
- oil barrier. A barrier for ants can serve as a belt of any vegetable oil (better than hemp, but it is problematic to get it now, so you can use linseed or sunflower oil). Insects will not risk moving through the oil barrier.
If sprouts, vegetable and berry crops suffer from ants, more serious ones should be applied. measuresaimed at the complete destruction of the harmful insect.
Chemicals
How to get rid of ants in the garden and on the site? Fighting ants with chemicals is almost useless, because most of these bugs are underground, among other things, they provide a lot of shelter for themselves and can hide at any moment in them.
IMPORTANT! All insecticides are toxic and serve primarily as a threat to crops and fruit trees grown on the site.
Nevertheless, many gardeners choose this harmful, but not painstaking, method. A wide variety of chemicals can be purchased at the store "Everything for the garden". Means: “Thunder”, “Muracid”, “Trinol”, “Karbofos” will help in solving the problem, but not for long. Insects stay on the plots in the unmeasured quantity, only a small part of them will perish during the treatment with insecticides, the rest will successfully multiply.
Photos of chemicals:
Folk (humane) methods of getting rid of insects
- destruction of aphids. This small insect serves as a source of sweet food for ants. It will not become her, and the ants will gradually disappear from the site;
- transfer of "ant heaps". The easiest and most effective way. An anthill gently break in with a shovel and carry away from the suburban area. In each ant house there is a uterus laying eggs, from which later larvae and adults emerge that do not give rest to summer residents. It is also advisable to dig up the earth under the anthill (the larvae can be found in it, as well as the ant queen itself) and be taken out of the cottage;
- frightening odors. Ants do not tolerate sharp odors. Garlic, cloves, laurel, anise, onions, valerian, marigolds will help you out with unwanted guests. Slices of onion, garlic, ground cloves, anise can be spread out around the anthills, as well as on the paths of insects. Valerian and marigold flowers plant around the site;
- deterrent agents. Many affected gardeners share their methods of scaring off these malicious insects. They recommend: sprinkle anthill and paths with ash, lime, tobacco dust, bone meal, soot, red pepper;
- cleanliness of the dacha. To fight with annoying guests was more effective you need to clean your site from the half-rotten boards, rotten stumps, where these insects like to gather. It is necessary to collect fallen fruits and berries in time, they attract ants with their sweet aroma.
Less humane but effective ways
- poison bait. Usually baits are made using borax (1 h. Spoon) and especially the products favorite by ants (minced meat, egg yolk, honey). Pieces of this mixture laid out over the entire surface of the site. After eating, the ants die after a while. To work with poison should be extremely cautious, wearing gloves;
- millet groats. Insects simply adore millet and gladly pounce on it. But they are unable to digest the rump, so they die after a while. Millet should be abundantly sprinkled with anthills, as well as paths along which insects move;
boiling water. Pour nests, piles, moves boiling water.
IMPORTANT! Poisonous bait can attract not only ants, but also domestic animals, which the owners bring with them to the cottages!
Do not think that all of the above methods provide a one hundred percent guarantee. The fight against ants is very laborious and long. You just need to find the way that will help you. Among other things, ants are quite important link in the food chain. After destroying their army, you will be surprised to find in the area countless hordes of caterpillars, larvae and malicious bugs that your restless guests had eaten before. Therefore, choose more humane ways to solve this problem.
Useful materials
Then you can get acquainted with articles that may be useful and interesting to you:
- Ant extermination:
- How to get rid of red ants in the apartment?
- Boric acid and borax from ants
- Folk remedies for ants in the apartment and house
- Rating of effective means of ants in the apartment
- Ant traps
- Ants in the garden:
- Species of ants
- How do ants hibernate?
- Who are the ants?
- What do ants eat?
- The value of ants in nature
- Hierarchy of ants: the king of the ant and the structural features of the working ant
- How do ants breed?
- Ants with wings
- Forest and garden ants, as well as the ant reaper
