ANTS IN LAWN - Ask Extension
Client is trying to grow grass and ants seem to be taking over where he is planting seed. Everywhere there is an ant mound, the grass will not grow....
Knowledgebase
ANTS IN LAWN #157158
Asked October 15, 2013, 1:48 PM EDT
Client is trying to grow grass and ants seem to be taking over where he is planting seed. Everywhere there is an ant mound, the grass will not grow. This is widespread on his lawn. He wants to know if there is a liquid treatment he can use to spray on ant mounds. He has been using powdered treatment and it is not working. He would like something he can spray directly into the any mound.
Alpena County Michigan
Expert Response
Sounds as if he may have sandy soil type favorable to ants. No easy answers here. Baits or dusts, which it appears he is using currently, are usually the most effective because workers take it back to the nest with them on their bodies. If you're lucky enough to discourage them, they will likely just move to somewhere else in the lawn. Lawn fertilizers with insecticide distributed over the entire lawn may help but one must understand that any pesticide use will have collateral damage such as destroying beneficial insects and organisms. Boric acid is a known ant repellant and I might try this first.
Here is an excerpt from Minnesota Extension: Any pesticide will have some toxicity to non-target organisms. The question comes down to the dose and longevity. Try a boric acid solution. Mix a cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of boric acid and shake well. Fill small bottles with cotton balls and saturate the cotton with the toxin. Poke small holes in half the lid so ants can get in. Turn the bottles on their side in heavily infested areas. The ants will bring the bait back to the nest and eventually kill off the colony. Some people have claimed success with sprinkling boric acid around each ant nest. If you have any large ant nests, try the boiling water approach. Another idea is to mix mint tea with insecticidal soap. Follow the mixing directions on the bottle and then put the mix in a spray bottle. It kills ants on contact and repels survivors.
Here is an exerpt from North Dakota Extension: Ants - What can be done to control ants in the lawn? Tempo (cyfluthrin) can be used to control ants in the lawn. These products may come in liquid or granular formulations. Apply the treatments according to label directions. You may need to treat more than once if activity continues after the first application. Will the ants actually damage the lawn? If you allow the ants to continue building mounds in a particular area, eventually the grass may be killed in that area. The biggest problem is that the mounds of soil made by the ants are unsightly as well as being a nuisance in the lawn.
Here are other links to more than you ever wanted to know about ants:
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/node/95
http://extension.umass.edu/turf/fact-sheets/ants-lawns
http://bugs.osu.edu/schoolipm/IPMfiles/antfactsheet.pdf
Good luck!
Here is an excerpt from Minnesota Extension: Any pesticide will have some toxicity to non-target organisms. The question comes down to the dose and longevity. Try a boric acid solution. Mix a cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of boric acid and shake well. Fill small bottles with cotton balls and saturate the cotton with the toxin. Poke small holes in half the lid so ants can get in. Turn the bottles on their side in heavily infested areas. The ants will bring the bait back to the nest and eventually kill off the colony. Some people have claimed success with sprinkling boric acid around each ant nest. If you have any large ant nests, try the boiling water approach. Another idea is to mix mint tea with insecticidal soap. Follow the mixing directions on the bottle and then put the mix in a spray bottle. It kills ants on contact and repels survivors.
Here is an exerpt from North Dakota Extension: Ants - What can be done to control ants in the lawn? Tempo (cyfluthrin) can be used to control ants in the lawn. These products may come in liquid or granular formulations. Apply the treatments according to label directions. You may need to treat more than once if activity continues after the first application. Will the ants actually damage the lawn? If you allow the ants to continue building mounds in a particular area, eventually the grass may be killed in that area. The biggest problem is that the mounds of soil made by the ants are unsightly as well as being a nuisance in the lawn.
Here are other links to more than you ever wanted to know about ants:
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/node/95
http://extension.umass.edu/turf/fact-sheets/ants-lawns
http://bugs.osu.edu/schoolipm/IPMfiles/antfactsheet.pdf
Good luck!
