More ants in my backyard than people on earth!

Tash Hender

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Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all well.

I had, still have a massive ant problem in my backyard. I have just moved to Brisbane and I set up my new veggie garden, planted some seeds and waited and waited and waited, but only a couple of things grew. It could have been one of 2 things or a combination; 1. we had a downpour of rain a couple of days later so that could have washed some seeds away or 2. the millions and trillions of ants "stole" them.
I think it might be a combination of both but I wanted to at least get rid of some of the ants, just in case. So I searched and found lots of ant nest, at least 4, I destroyed them and spread out ant rid (this is not near my veggie garden). BUT they were still everywhere and in plague numbers, so on the weekend I searched again and noticed one of the small trees was quite dead, with lots of loose bark and lots of ants walking all up and down it. So I pulled off some bark, an ant nest, pulled off a little bit more bark and more ants nests. So I grabbed my saw and chopped off one of the branches. It was FULL of ant nests, I thought to myself 'I'm not letting these ants win!' And next minute, I had chopped the whole tree down. And lucky I did, it was full of ant nests, and I mean every single inch of the tree was full! So hopefully I have gotten rid of enough ants that they will stay away from my veggie garden.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has had any problems with ants and what they have done to get rid of them. Or any advice deterring them from coming into my veggie garden. And if there is already a thread with this discussion, please direct me in the right direction, I'm new to forums and still finding my way around.

Happy gardening
Tash
 

DTK

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Hi Tash, I live in Brisbane (SW suburbs) and have had lots of problems with ants for a while now. There was a post here a while back which mentioned that you usually have ants or worms, not both at same time. Alas, that is a problem I face - IN my veggie garden. I have used ant sand and sometimes pyrethrum. I still have some ants but not as many, and before I came away on holidays I found some worms, so I am heartened by that. Good luck with your ants, and if you solve the problem, I have 2 1/2 acres you can tackle any time you wish! ;)
 

Tash Hender

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Hi Dan thanks for your reply.
Where I found the ants, there are also worms so not sure about the ants or worms and not both at the same time deal. But I am about to put some fresh compost in my garden and transfer some of the worms into to garden so hopefully that will help. As long as the ants stay away from the garden I don't mind them around the yard.
If I solve the ants problem I'll let you know lol
Thanks
Tash
 

ClissAT

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Hi Tash, when the ground is dryish the ants live in the ground in extensive nests.
But once they know it is about to rain they head up, anywhere that won't get flooded. They move their white eggs up first then seek out a food source.
In your case they found the dead tree which is a common haunt for ants.
Then they found your seeds and possibly even your compost so they were set for the whole wet season!
Cutting down the tree goes only a short way to solving your ant problem.
Did you spray them all once you'd exposed them? If not then they just find some other place to move to and continue life.
If you go to a rural store you might be able to get a special sprinkle product that the ants take back into their nests and feed to the queen which kills the whole nest.
But it's quite expensive and only available in minimum 2lt bottles at around $50 but by the sounds of your yard you will probably need a whole bottle anyway.
I don't know where else you'd get that product. I've recently thrown away the last empty bottle so I don't know the name of it or you could get it online maybe.
But it's a chemical.
 

t4ms

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I know this is considered an unproven myth but I use equal parts sodium bicarbonate and caster sugar (or you can use honey but it gets messy). I had a massive ant infestation a month ago. Three trays of bicarb/sugar and I haven't seen an ant since. This could be a cheap and easy option while you investigate your other options. I always have bicarb and sugar around so it was no effort to try it out.

I've left a small tray (an upcycled cat food container) by the back door as it's undercover. I haven't seen any ants outside (near the tray) either.
 

GKW

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You might have to bit the bullet and buy some of the commercial ant rid powder...such as below.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/bayer-350g-ant-and-wasp-dust_p2961175

A couple of years back I had a continuous stream of bull ants tracking from one side of my garden to the other then down to the backyard. I puffed this stuff / similar across the pathway's they took and they were turning up their toes within minutes and problem was gone within hours....not to return to date.
 

Vicky

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this is no solution for a small backyard and especially one in the suburbs but did you know that Guinea Fowl EAT BULL ANTS? We have one and a quarter acres in the middle of cropping country and we could not step out in the yard and stand still without being eaten alive, we used to have guinea fowl but the numbers dropped and then our last pair laid eggs, I found the nest and we incubated 14 keets out. I first noticed that while the rest of the yard was crawling with ants (I had trouble feeding the chickens there were so many ants) their little enclosure was ant free. We decided to keep them and when I let them out of their enclosure for the first time, they ran around gobbling up all the bullants they could find. I couldn't have been happier. A few months later and we are ant free. They range outside our property so that space, where they go, it is also free from ants. Again, sorry it is not a solution for small suburban spaces but it is a long term solution for acreages :)
 

DTK

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Hi Vicky,

We have guinea fowl here too. Trouble is, they are not allowed in the vegetable cage.

Having said that, our ant problem inside the cage seems to have been subdued at the moment.

I also understand GF chase off ticks and snakes...perhaps a myth.

All the best,
 

Vicky

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Hi Dan, I have heard about Guinea Fowl eating or getting rid of ticks however we don't yet have a problem in South Australia - we have been getting more humid weather consistently in the last 5 - 6 years so that may change. As for snakes, we had one come in under the verandah - they are always eastern browns so I am VERY cautious of them - but I believe was run over by a car because it's behaviour was very odd and it stayed around for three days. At the time our two guinea fowl walked right past it, they paused and checked it out but went on their way, maybe it wasn't a threat to them or maybe there were not enough of them to gang up on it? I don't know. I DO know, (I saw with own eyes) that years ago, we had a flock of 7 or 8 guinea and one morning they were in the neighbours paddock and raised a fuss, I went out into our yard where I could see over in that direction and suddenly I saw, all of them racing along in a line CHASING A FOX. It was the funniest thing, that critter was scurrying off quick smart, looking over it's shoulder as our Guineas were running after it and raising that infernal and relentless NOISE that they make! It was one thing that gave them favour in my eyes. I have been told by someone who found a dead snake and it had peck marks all over it's body, she suspected her Gunieas but she had a good sized flock. I also know someone else who has 10 acres and they have Guineas - they have bred to the hundreds - and I've walked that land many times for many years (I used to help them harvest 8 acres of olive trees) and there was never any sign of a snake nor was there any bull ant nests.
 

DivingTemptress

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I have tried several organic methods of ant control with some success.

boiling water will kill them and you will reduce the population for awhile.

take a shovel full and place on another pile and they will fight each other to the death.

I just read that orange oil works. Am buying some Monday and will report back my results.

Happy Gardening !

P J, the DivingTemptress and Dirt Diva
 
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Wanda

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Regular white vinegar poured over the nest works.
Rough cut corn meal (grits) is a folk remedy. Sprinkle some over and around the nest.

Keeping the area extremely wet works well. They will move somewhere dry if you keep hosing them down.
 
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