Make Your Yard ANT FREE FOREVER In 3 Easy Steps

[@TheMillennialGardener]

If you enjoyed this video, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Getting Rid Of Ants Intro 1:07 Why Ants Love Your Yard 3:25 Step 1: Defending Against Ants 8:09 Step 2: Offensive Strategy 9:48 Step 3: Permanent Ant Prevention 12:52 Preventing Ants Summary 14:25 Adventures With Dale

[@sam6907]

I've enjoyed your videos. I'm in SC and also enjoy gardening and taking care of the chickens. We have plenty of sand and ants as well. So thanks and take care.

[@spoonnwithsunshinehomestead]

Definitely gonna give this a try!

[@TruThat549]

Such amazing information! Thank you for sharing this valuable plan to eliminate ants.

[@christyw2010]

Love your videos!! Your advice is always so accurate and easy to follow. Thank you for your videos and of course the Adventures with Dale at the end. 🙏🐾🐾

[@Firedoutdoors]

can i use the poison garden bed bc they are in one of mine

[@billthorne1]

i use dry ice, a hot brick and a big soup pot. Place the hot brick next to the ant hill. Put the dry ice on top of the brick. Cover the brick and dry ice with the big soup pot making a solid seal with the ground. Put a weight on the soup pot to keep it in place. The CO2 released from the dry ice will penetrate the deepest areas of the nest -- ants, gophers or whatever underground pest you're pursuing -- and put them permanently asleep, leaving no toxic residue.

[@wayne251975]

Hot water is an excellent remedy. If hot enough the steam will compound the effect.

[@debistanley2791]

Love this! Thank you!

[@DianneLopez-po8st]

Ty

[@farmeunit]

Great idea. Never heard of it.

[@jennymartinez4597]

@billthorne1, TY! This solution is so important to me because I have a Big lovable, seizure Dog who can’t have any pesticides like Sevin in her environment or it brings on massive GM seizures! & in TX we have ants! ❤ & Blessings on you! I will try this. Where do you find your Dry ice?

[@trinatj]

Your channel popped up on my algorithm because my daughter and I was chatting about homesteading and gardens; we’re from NJ and now reside in Charlotte. Your channel has been a Godsend. I’ve been binge watching all week. Thank you for sharing a wealth of knowledge!!!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I'm glad it's helpful! I'm also from NJ, so it seems we're on a similar trajectory!

[@adriankap2978]

I can appreciate the hard work you put in to sharing your advice. For ants I use Terro liquid baits or I sprinkle down cinnamon around the ant hills that I find. They hate the cinnamon smell and vacate within a few hours after applying. The baits do the same of attracting ants and they then take it back to the nest and kills the queen. I use small terra cotta saucers upside down to place the baits then cover with plastic cups with small ant size only notches on the lip edge for access and is water and rain proof. Keep in mind that your pup will absorb the chemicals thru there pads and people shouldn't go barefoot where you've put it down. I'm really not trying to criticize but just trying to keep everyone safe and until it was pointed out to me from my neighbor, I wouldn't have thought of that either. I just feel we need to think about what we're putting on the ground so it doesn't seep down to our ground water/aquifers. Thank you again.

[@annie-thesupernannie00]

Thats a great idea, will put bait around ant home and cover with terracotta pots so nothing else can eat it or go near it... thanks for that.

[@cmb52]

Absolutely!!!

[@LynnRPerry]

Super idea. I really worry about the animals, especially the Labs and this sounds great. Might have to put a pretty heavy weight on those pots though Labs are snoopy and want to pick up anything interesting in the yard.

[@ladyj02]

Wouldn't the cinnamon trick just encourage them to rebuild elsewhere around your home? A non-cinnamon area for instance.

[@miri-dz9oy]

Can you share what your neighbor exactly told you so that you changd your mind, and how you made this change of perception? This would be really helpful because so far whenever I shared my concerns it just fell on deaf ears.

[@lynlalalala]

I personally don't like to use anything on my garden that I can't use with my bare hands. For ant hills and ground wasp nests; I squirt 1/2 to 1 cup of Dawn into the hole, then use the garden hose to soak the Dawn down into the hole. For the ground wasps; apply early morning or evening, after the wasps are in their nests. Works every time!

[@darlenemartinez384]

Yep. I’m getting ready to go out and do that to a ground wasp nest right now. Absolutely works.

[@angelastevenson252]

I have used a vacuum for ground wasps. I point the nozzle at the hole and turn it on... then run! The vibration brings out the wasps and they get sucked in. I've done this many times. It works great! The wasp are killed as they get pulled in.

[@gardensofthegods]

You should also look into an insect growth inhibitor because this actually prevents them from being able to procreate and therefore it stops their population for multiplying and if you do that every 6 weeks you will see that you don't have to battle them as much because at some point you'll hardly be seeing any at all if you keep using the growth inhibitor every 6 weeks

[@angieBhanson]

I found an empire of ants in my flower pot that sat outside over the winter. After using Dawn, will you have to throw out the dirt if the ants are dead or will you be able to reuse the dirt in the flower pot to plant flowers. I know Dawn is used as a type of gentle insecticide; but safe for animals too. Just wandering.

[@lynlalalala]

@@angieBhanson It depends on how much Dawn you used in the flower pot, and the size of the flower pot.

[@tressastanton1300]

Grits works amazingly on any piles. The ant eats the grit, swells up and dies. The whole mound is gone! I have been using grits for over 10 years. Use at least half a box and if the mound is huge a whole box. I have only have to do a second application a handful amount of times. Really works and organic.

[@ak0p.]

Do you mean Quaker grits? The breakfast food?

[@patiencekates5975]

Thank you!

[@sn232]

What type specifically do you use? Thank you

[@markskibo5159]

sounds expensive

[@tony-el1dx]

Will that hurt chickens

[@gcdcpakmbs]

I use a totally organic solution. In the growing season 1. Put down organic fertilizer. 2. Put down dry molasses. 3. Spray with Actively aerated compost tea, or use a product like Medina Soil activator to populate with beneficial microorganisms. 2. Cover with 1/2" of compost. Water like you normally water your grass. Re-activate the microorganism (in step 3) once a month for 3 months. Your soil will be healthier, your garden will do better provided you are gardening organically. I do this and outside my property line there are dozens and dozens of fire ant mounds. Nothing on my property at all. It is simply too hostile an environment for ants, fleas, ticks, and termites. And the bees and butterflies flourish. After a rain, I sometimes get a couple of fireant mounds. I can either treat them with orange oil and molasses, or just wait a couple of weeks - they'll move on.

[@danyelunderwood1119]

Hi, could you share more details about the fertilizer and spray you use and how to make?

[@LynnRPerry]

I have read orange oil and Dawn soap also work well.

[@BCSBCS-ee6yi]

Food grade DE round the mounds when they do pop up. Works like a charm and is edible to animals and humans alike. Noooot so much to those pesky ants!

[@gcdcpakmbs]

@@danyelunderwood1119 I use growing green fertilizer, but I think any organic would do. You can put it down any time. Won’t burn any vegetation. Molasses you can put down granular or spray a liquid. Can find it at most any nursery as well as Home Depot or Lowe’s. If you don’t make the compost tea, you can find liquid products that will add beneficial microorganisms to spray.

[@gcdcpakmbs]

@@LynnRPerry that will kill a lot of the mound, but a drench will rarely kill the whole mound. The remaking ones just move the queen and mound to a different location.

[@4bubbabites]

We have fire ants here in Arkansas badly. Since we quit using Chem pesticides, we've found baking soda & white vinegar works well. It's also a fun reaction to watch lol. Just sprinkle a good amount of baking soda on the mound and pour the vinegar over it. For pests in the garden we've found neem oil and diatomaceous earth to be effective weapons as well. Thanks for your videos MG!

[@jonas3333]

Excellent. We all need to move away from the use of toxic chemicals!

[@4bubbabites]

@@stm5578 take a stick or something to disturb the mound. Immediately pour a generous amount of soda followed by pouring the white vinegar on top. Equal parts of each should be enough. Typically I’ll drag the heel of my boot or kick the mound, but beware they’ll attack lol. By disturbing the mound first you’ll ensure it gets in there good.

[@4bubbabites]

@@stm5578 wait 15 minutes, then repeat the process as necessary

[@jimnagel5611]

INDEED THIS GUY OBVIOUSLY HAS MONEY TO BURN -- THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS -- I USE DIATOM EARTH TOO -- AND BORIC ACID -- BORIC ACID & SUGAR OF SOME KIND -- OR MIXED WITH SOME KIND OF PROTEIN (PEANUT BUTTER) & YOU'LL GET THE ROACHES TOO -- 20 MULE TEAM BORAX WORKS TOO -- I DONT HAVE AN ENDLESS SOURCE OF MONEY LIKE THIS GUY

[@4bubbabites]

@@jimnagel5611 I learned the boric acid trick with roaches back 90s, this old Chinese man told me to boil a potato, poke holes in it with a pencil and pour it into the holes letting it soak in. I was blown away by the results!

[@Angie-jg4nz]

I’m convinced we have a 5 acre, mutant ant farm, on my land. All sandy soil.

[@carolynmcbride3136]

My dad used to trade a shovelful from one anthill with another & they would kill each other off...Worked pretty good!

[@jdub8766]

😄😆

[@Mantras-and-Mystics]

😂😂😂

[@michaelpaliden6660]

Let them fight

[@katie7748]

Huh...not a bad idea actually

[@ACE-kn4vc]

Death match

[@kpag3030]

You can create a less sandy lawn for sure by spreading compost as a top dressing a couple of times a year. In a few years, you will have an inch or two or more of transformed soil and also still have a lawn. A healthy looking lawn. And very little environment for ants to thrive.

[@BritishRiver]

This may not work well for him because he uses that Sevin on his lawn. On a non-chemical lawn, earthworms come to the surface for the organic "food" (i.e., compost). They travel back down into the soil, bringing the bits of organic matter with them, pooping as they go! But in his yard, the earthworms would just die as they got near the surface. Sad.

[@dianacarr5515]

Just FYI - try cornmeal. We have horses and lots of ants. Because horses love to graze, putting chemicals on their pastures is not ideal. Someone told us about cornmeal. The ants love it, they eat it and when they drink water the cornmeal swells and kills them. It is super effective, non toxic, great for garden, great for fungal infections and gets rid of ants quickly and effectively. Drawbacks ... *Not as effective on rainy days - for obvious reasons. * we do broadcast spreading but only in heavily infested areas - like our barn and feed areas. * it is better as a spot treatment * it has to be reapplied as needed. Not a once done. In and around our barn, we may do monthly or every other month. A lot depends on the weather. We use a hand spreader. We also keep an old large plastic chive spice container filled with cornmeal to spot treat occasionally. It's super effective but does require reapplication as needed. The bonus ... it's doesn't hurt the beneficial like worms etc

[@GinaKayLandis]

I have 4 raised beds - two are 2' x 4' and two are 2' x 2'. Broadcasting cornmeal may actually work in those! Thanks!

[@axlmcload]

Thank you! at least something natural and not bad for birds and other insects!

[@jforzone18]

And harm to the horses?

[@BenNawrath]

Great video! I'm an engineer too, so I appreciate your systematic approach. A word on lawns... since I'm more off a lawn guy than a garden guy. I live on Long Island where it's also sandy. I get ants especially in and around my patio. Over the last few years that I've really been getting into lawn care, I've been trying to loosen up my soil and add organic matter where I can with top dressing and humic acid. Between that and a couple of apps of insect preventer, I've seen my ant situation drop dramatically. I never thought the organic matter would be part of it until you mentioned it, but it's all kind of making sense now! Moral of the story, if you also want a nice lawn (I have a dog and an 8 yr old son), improving the soil conditions for the grass likely helps the any situation too!

[@debistanley2791]

Why not just use the mulch and and organic matter. It may take longer but no poison to the good bugs and wildlife.

[@BenNawrath]

@@debistanley2791 humid acid is a naturally occurring thing. It’s basically part of the decomposition process of organic matter. So I’m giving my lawn something the microbes can actually digest and thus make the nutrients bioavailable to the grass. And don’t forget, in this case “organic” is the chemical definition, containing carbon. Not the the one related to food. Unless you have a mower that does an abnormally good job at mulching grass, it just takes forever to break down and actually cakes up on the surface of your soil creating too much thatch. So people mulch all year then dethatch their lawn and remove it? Seems silly.,, so I bag my clippings and use them as compost for the future or mulch for my gardens. Your lawn likes compost, not mulch… we put mulch in our gardens to keep weeds from growing, not good for the lawn. Like I said, my ant problem has gone down and I use less and less ant killer, and lately I really just target the ant hills. I concentrate on mechanical solutions for my lawn, mowing more often, thatching, top dressing, and then add some fertilizer and humic. And before you jump on that “chemical” bandwagon, lawn fertilizer is various combinations of nitrogen phosphorus and potassium. Those are elements. And the bag will tell you where they come from (urea is a common nitrogen source). Everything has a chemical name… many we can’t pronounce. It doesn’t mean they’re bad. Why do you think vitamins are lettered?

[@gregsanderson2470]

​@@BenNawrath your right being organic doesn't mean safe ! Think about poison ivy , it's organic. Apple seeds contain poison.

[@BenNawrath]

@@gregsanderson2470 I use poison ivy as an example all the time! Also you can measure the calories of a chunk of tree bark, doesn’t mean your body can do anything with it… same with grass, not all forms of nutrients are easily absorbed.

[@scottiopizza7565]

I'm from LI no fire ants there when I left, do you have them? I would be surprised..

[@kmyase1]

I turned my sandy soil into moist top soil and it definitely got rid of most ant hills.

[@Chainyanker007]

I use a borax solution and put it in small disposable water bottles in which I’ve cut a small opening to allow easy pouring of a tablespoon or two of the solution into the bottle. I then place them wherever I see ants and in other random places where I can easily see the bottles so I can periodically put in another tablespoon or two of the solution. I wash the bottle out if a bunch of dead ants are in them, and rebait the bottle and put it back till no more ants die in them. So far this seems to have killed off the colonies because the worker ants drink the solution then take it back to the nest and some goes to the queen which kills it and eventually every ant that consumes it dies. Many of the ants also die in the bottle. No doubt the colonies will return but by leaving the bait bottles out at random places it seems to have kept them at bay as any new ants get killed off. I keep the solution in a bottle and pour from it into the bait bottles. I like this method because it is economical, easy and effective. The solution is made by mixing the following: 0.5 cups sugar, 1.5 Tbls powdered borax, 1.5 cups warm water, 1 - 2 teaspoons of honey. Mix till completely dissolved.

[@danielrogers997]

This is the way

[@BCSBCS-ee6yi]

We typically spread some food grade D.E. round the mounds, but just may have to try your suggestion as it seems a bit less maintenance intensive!

[@CaptainG-xs3yo]

I mix mine with a 50/50 Sugar Borax. It got rid of the little ants in my cabin. They didn't come back for three years.

[@openhorizon1162]

​@@CaptainG-xs3yo what kind of sugar did you use? Granulated (table sugar) or powdered (confectioners')?

[@CaptainG-xs3yo]

@@openhorizon1162 I used granulated, but I think powdered would probably work better.

[@sglonebird]

Grandma used to pour a kettle of hot water around and down the and hole. I tried it and it works.

[@skLuke638]

We live in NE Georgia with red clay/granite. Red ants thrive everywhere here. In 2021, we were in a terrible car accident. When we were pulled out of the car by Samaritans and put on the ground away from the accident that was about to catch fire, these native Georgia ants that live in the red dirt(without mounds) began biting us in our legs. The good thing (in the midst of this tragic accident) they kept us alert until the EMT could get to us. Not that it was pleasant, but we were coherent enough to communicate with our family & give vital information to EMTs before becoming unconscious. So much for red ants. In our property out in the country, we have used fighting techniques. We will take a shovel load from one mound to another. Sometimes, we will add even a third mound, and they will fight each other, appearing to fight to the death. In our front yard years ago, we planted Zoyzia, which was with plugs and time-consuming. But the roots are so thick, very little weeds, nor ants can get thru it. It is beautiful when it turns green in the spring & doesn't grow tall.

[@shancan6328]

Interested in the Zoyzia idea. I'll look into it. Thanks for comment.

[@skLuke638]

@Shan Can a of the end of February the grass is still dormant &the only thing that has come up recently is the wild onions. Once the grass turns green again, it will be beautiful and low growing but thick.

[@shancan6328]

@@skLuke638 Thanks Kathy.

[@missylearned9821]

Yes! We used to have fescue grass and replaced it with Zeon Zoysia sod about 25 years ago and never had an ant hill again. Most beautiful, easy lawn ever. Weeds had a hard time growing in it as well. Miss it since we sold the house a few years ago.

[@bcb58bcb]

I moved from the north to Texas 6 years ago. The fire ants where awful. I started listening to a KZbin site called “How to with Doc”, so I could learn to take care of our lawn. Doc suggested products for your lawn by The Anderson’s. One product I learned about was “HumicDG”and I mmediately started using it. It helps to nourish the soil. The last couple of years they have come out with another product called “Humichar”, (he has a whole video explaining how it works) which is what I use now. I have been using all this stuff and my soil under my grass is rich and black about 4 inches down. I have no ants anymore. Just though I would share this in case you wanted to use it on your front lawn and the back area where your dog loves to play, and it is natural!

[@johncmitchell4941]

Excellent video here, esp for those of us with similar soil. btw, for everyone regardless of lawn, garden or home invasion of ants the downfall of any asphalt, paver, concrete pavement (besides weeds) is the nature of ants to tunnel beneath and eventually undermine them. Using a perimeter defense as shown here is vital to ensuring their longevity in many ways.

[@quetzalflight5790]

Thanks for the info. I'll use your tips. I used the cinnamon powder method in and out the house. It really functions. I also use the combination of water vinegar and liquid floor cleaner lavender also functions. Thanks again.

[@maryanncrowl1624]

Fire ants love black land clay! I have a 30 acre farm and they are everywhere, some years worse than others but I would never wear flip flops until this summer when the drought was so bad that there were very few mounds in the pastures. However, they LOVE my garden. They love the composted, mulched beds. They love my compost bins. They love the wood chip mulch pile. They even love my 30" high metal raised garden beds that I got specifically to avoid the fire ants. I've used a product called Come and Get It in my garden specifically b/c it is approved for organic gardening. I've tried everything natural for the past several years - orange oil worked the best but they just keep popping up - and typically when it is time to plant out my garden, I have fire ants in the beds, the compost, etc. For the fall I am trying a new approach. I am using the Come and Get It in the garden area but I am going to break down and use Amdro in the mounds outside of my garden fence. Inside the area where the garden is but not in the garden itself, I may consider spreading Sevin. I don't know. But I need to do something to discourage them from getting close to my garden in the first place. Thank you for your information and enthusiasm.

[@miri-dz9oy]

I read more than once that ants seek areas with geopathic stress zones like. Depending on the knowledge of a dowser, they might have remedies and methods to clear up the energies of a place (semi)-permanently. It is just an additional idea. Planting lemon grass might also be an idea.

[@BritishRiver]

I also have clay. Before you poison your food crops, realize that ants help break up the clay, introducing much-needed air and water to plant roots. My flower garden is a labyrinth (envision a maze with one way in and one way out). I wanted the ant benefits for the flower beds that made up the lines of the labyrinth, but I didn't want them on the paths. I bought dry molasses, the kind they feed to horses, and sprinkled it liberally along the paths. All the ants cooperated by moving to the beds. They don't like the molasses, so if you decide where they can go, you can "motivate" them to move there.😆 Also, it's odd that the ants are coming up into your raised beds and compost piles. Are they doing that only when it rains (i.e., when their nests are flooded?). It's helpful to notice WHEN they are above-ground. Keep a journal. If they only come up when it rains, just be patient and they'll leave when the rainy season is over. Another possibility is the LOCATION of your compost pile. I once placed my bin right over their underground nest. When I realized it, I moved the pile over 1 foot and never saw an ant in the pile again. I talked to a lady once who had a compost pile right next to her driveway that always had ants in it. I suggested she move the compost bin 3 feet further away from the driveway / cement slab. That solved the problem. Hope these ideas help. Good luck.

[@robertevans8024]

Part of the life cycle of nightcrawlers is coming up onto the lawn to mate and feed on decaying matter. These poisons affect them as well. And the residues leach deep into the sub surface. So your not only killing ants, but grubs and worms, and all those other insects that help break down decaying plant matter.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Some of this is true. Some of it isn't. Yes, it will harm all insects that dwell on the surface of the lawn. No, they do not leach deep into the subsurface. One of the things these products are known for is being quickly bound within the soil. There are so many lies spread about products like these by the automatic "everything not organic bad" culture. As with anything, you need to understand how it works, read the labels carefully and apply strictly as directed. Here is good information on pyrethoids like bifenthrin: npic.orst.edu/factsheets/bifgen.html#wildlife "Bifenthrin is not likely to reach groundwater because it binds tightly to soil. However, soil-bound bifenthrin has the potential to contaminate surface waters through runoff. Bifenthrin on soil surfaces is unlikely to become airborne." When applied in a targeted approach in perfectly dry weather exactly as directed on lawns only, you should mostly target the "bad" insects. Keep in mind, as discussed in the video, this is a measure for people overwhelmed with problems. A lot of us have such bad infestations that you can't even let your pets outside without getting bitten, so we have little choice. If you don't have infestations of dangerous ants, you can simply spot treat and work on your soil culture as discussed within the second half of the video.

[@lorilynn6563]

I agree. We humans are destroying this earth with chemicals that do more harm than good. If I can't drink it or eat it without causing harm to myself, I'm certainly not going to put it on my lawn. Every single chemical leeches into the water & those who have private wells water their garden with your chemicals, they provide water to their chickens with those chemicals and even drink the water themselves.

[@sonyasviolin]

@@TheMillennialGardener o

[@onlyyou5817]

I have two small 5 pound dogs and have always been hesitant to use the poisons in my yard. What's your opinion on that as I know you said they were harmful to cats.

[@wickedmageik1712]

@@TheMillennialGardener “not likely” does not mean “doesn’t happen” also you realize ants are a part of life? You don’t spray anything, ever. Organic or not isn’t the deal here. I don’t think YOU are the one who understands this. Maybe take a path to learn about chemicals in the environment and what it will do in long term as well as short term. Really. You’re giving advice so at this point you are held responsible for the people who listen and think “okay! I’m going to put insecticide over my yard for…. Ants.” Try building up NATURAL defenses of ants are THAT much of a bother to you somehow. Humans. This isn’t YOUR world. You’re just living on it. Quit ruining it for every other species including your own. Pathetic how blind people are.

[@myurbangarden7695]

Fire ants are a painful nuance here in Texas. After the rain 🌧️ they build HUGE mounds. This year I covered large areas of my lawn with leaves and landscaping fabric. So far so good.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Keep in mind as the leaves break down, they will compact into a silt that will allow the mounds to be built. Fresh organic matter prevents them, because it is well aerated and they can't build since it won't hold shape. Once organic matter decomposes, they can begin to build. The key is constantly applying fresh compost and mulch, because that constant supply keeps the area structurally unsound.

[@4zooflorida]

Aww, your fire ant hills are so cute! We live in Florida, and our ant hills are numerous and yuuge! I see eight right now, looking in the back yard acreage. I use one of those Amdro containers every time I treat. They come up in our pool pavers, my garden, my compost bins, pretty much everywhere. I just cleared some out of our package delivery bin up front, because they didn’t want to deliver our packages in it. I will try to drive them away from the house and garden using your suggestions.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

@@4zooflorida it’s February. In 4 months I’ll show you hills the size of a basketball.

[@4zooflorida]

@@TheMillennialGardener I know you do better job keeping yours under control than we. With ten acres, we pick our battles.😉 Plus, I didn’t realize fire ants made it to the Carolinas. Thanks for the good info!

[@bryanbennett972]

@@4zooflorida Same here. With a 1/4 or 1/2 acre lot it is feasible to put up a fight. Like you, here on the farm we can only deal with the ones near the house. For the rest, I would go broke buying and treating all the fire ant mounds. Occasionally I will burn some of them out when they get good sized..

[@vikkirountoit497]

PLEASE add a note to your description stating if this is a safe strategy for property on water - SO much of eastern NC is on water and we need to know if these products can be an issue for all of the life that calls our water home. Critical also for the many of us that consider that water life to be a food source.

[@lynlalalala]

Do your research before applying product... 😉

[@BritishRiver]

Don't use poisons near water as a general rule. The package probably indicates that.

[@amberlady2428]

​@@BritishRiveryes it's HIGHLY illegal

[@satishchandrakodagally7945]

Wow! This is awesome information. For container gardening, Change the soil structure and/or just add a fabric to the base so they can't throw out soil to build their homes. Thanks a ton 🙂

[@fantasticflyingfrogs]

I'm wondering if you could just put a thin layer of compost every couple months over your front yard, so the HOA won't notice, but over a few years you would build up a lot of compost in your front yard without them knowing.

[@denisef1153]

I would do that. They won’t know but wonder why your lawn looks so much better than everyone else’s. 😂 that would be great.

[@joycehandersonfriends3225]

I tried something in my 2 small 4x8 ft raised bed gardens a few years back that was expensive but it worked. Since I didn't want anything in my garden that might not be safe, I just bought some large cans of black pepper and sprinkled it all over any fire ants I saw. It didn't kill them but they would move elsewhere, away from my garden. However after a few rains they came back and I had to do it again.

[@suerogers2931]

Ideas may be good for you but the fire ants love red clay. They will tunnel through 12" of mulch to get to the red clay to make Tunnels for their homes. Extinguish does a pretty good job on Them.

[@suerogers2931]

7 does work well on all ants except fire ants.

[@suerogers2931]

7 will take care of yellow jackets nest.

[@melindawallin3713]

Hey North Carolina, California here. Really enjoyed your get rid of ants video, doesn't matter where you are, ants are a real menace to the garden, I have tried the borax solution with no success. I have also tried sprinkling around diatemaceous earth which who knows if it's doing anything. No lawn so no Sevin but I will try your other recommendations and see if it works Anyway , thanks for the well done and informative video.

[@rmburn9634]

Perfect information for you and most people. I live in south Florida and have been adding organic material; literally tons worth, over 18 years. Returns to sand in months. I also will only use chemicals in my yard at last resort. (fleas from neighbors animals) I have chickens and a McCaw and dont want those chemicals in my yard. The amdro is targeted and I love that. In fact a fire ant colony is somewhere in my raised bed so I need to get some soon. I have red ants in my front yard and dont have any fire ants there, I think the red ants keep them at bay. In my backyard I have no ants because the chickens are there.

[@gofigure4920]

I find using my used coffee grinds deter the ants to another area so you can keep it out of your garden beds or fruit bushes, trees, veggie plants than use the amdro. 👍🏻

[@miri-dz9oy]

Have you ever tried to produce Terra Preta from compost and charcoal? It might be worth a try. That's what people in the Amazon region did where they had very sandy soil. The areas where they created the so called Terra Preta (Black Earth) are still intact after thousands of years: Rich dark soil whereas surrounding untreated areas are just sandy.

[@markbooth3066]

Nice video, thanks for the advice. So far, we have just been using an Offence strategy, using Spinosad based granules, but the nests keep coming back, so I like the idea of using your defensive and protective strategies to complement this. Sadly the Sevin granules aren't available in the UK. The closest I can find are a Deltamethrin based spray that lasts 3 months and covers 50 sq.m with 5L, and a Cypermethrin based spray that covers 100 sq.m with is a 5L, but only lasts 6 weeks and is 3x the price, so I'll give the former a try and see how it works out.

[@markbooth3066]

@@AlexMartin-cv6cq It seems likely. I know that we have been campaigning against allowing Chlorinated Chicken to be exported to the UK since before we left the EU and became able to negotiation trade deals that would allow it.

[@matthewhowe3727]

About 4oz of Dawn dish soap to 1-2 gallons of water. Won't prevent them but I've used it twice now and it worked awesome.

[@markbooth3066]

@@matthewhowe3727 If you're in the U.S. why wouldn't you just buy the chemicals suggested in the video?

[@jowpopper790]

I've lived in the south now for about 3 decades and have learned a lot about fire ants. The colony nest reaches several feet deep. In fact one documentary said their tunnels can be 20 feet deep. Poisons basically move the ants to your neighbors. Glad your strategy worked for you.

[@anpsteph]

I live in Florida and my soil is very sandy. I have ants everywhere. You're right, nothing seems to work to kill them off, they just move. Ugh.

[@coppcar]

Yep, exactly where I want them, the neighbors yard. Just kidding.

[@tuckertruckerpatriot312]

My experience with the weed mat is that the ants build massive nests underneath it.

[@justaskin8523]

I also don't like the weed mat that doesn't decompose, and that's because it prevents earthworms from escaping the rain. There's a huge nursery here in Central Florida, called Lukas Nursery (in Oviedo, northeast of Orlando), and I've noticed that within the last 2 years or so, they have replaced almost all of their weed mat with gravel. I keep forgetting to ask them what underlayment they are using.

[@tactileslut]

If they push sand through the cracks in the driveway I can't see them having trouble with fabric. Ortho Orthene is my revenge powder of choice, applied with a Sevin dust shaker outside or a plastic knife behind the electrical wall plates inside.

[@lizellehattingh281]

Same here!!!

[@Eduardo_Espinoza]

@justaskin8523 Do you know how thick the gravel layer has to be?

[@georgeadcock2347]

I have been to Lucas's dozens of times. I Will ask them and post it..

[@ooohlaa13]

I hear you ... I moved to FL after living in Hawaii for 15 years where there were NO biting ants. I was innocent when I moved to FL and first I cleaned out my house gutters and got nearly a hundred bites up my arms from fire ants. In Hawaii I went everywhere barefoot, it was wonderful. I still forget after 20 years in FL not to go barefoot. Its so a part of my life and my freewheeling' soul that I have to deal with bites from various insects. Pot gardening here full of ants, they farm aphids over all the plants and its a nightmare. I have tried it all so eager to watch this video. Being organic I am concerned about toxic treatment so I avoided all that here for 20 years and finally gave up much gardening except for pots. I have 4 cats so concerned abut that since they were feral and are indoor/outdoor all day long busy coming and going!!!.

[@007DFWAngel]

Salt 🧂 works too as a barrier

[@ooohlaa13]

@@007DFWAngel How do you apply and where? Because pretty sure it is a ph changer and a killer as well and another thing here in Florida it attracts dampness, but I will try anything. Maybe a ring of salt around potted plants? Thanx I will keep in mind like around the picnic table.

[@annemongoose7648]

Pour vinegar on nest. Then pour baking soda. Any survivors will leave.

[@ooohlaa13]

@@annemongoose7648 Thanx will try ...I have lots of vinegar with hot pepper juice for 5 gals of specialty spicy pickles ... I have been saving it to use on weeds ... I will try on the ants, than

[@kenshinhimura9387]

​@@ooohlaa13 all that stuff is a waste of time. Trust me. I live in Florida. All you need is orange oil, dish soap and water. Put about a tablespoon of orange oil in a gallon of water. Squirt a bit of dish soap and mix up. Pour this mixture into the ant hill. It will eradicate all of them including the queen if you pour enough down the nest. If not you can always come back a day or two later and finish the job. It kills them almost instantly.

[@rhondah1587]

I live in south Louisiana in the Mississippi delta where the soil here is highly organic, rich river silt everywhere. Fire ants are in pure heaven, and they don't build mounds like you have shown, they build six to 12 inch high hills that look like granules piled up. They also love love love to invade plants in pots and will not be detectable until you move the pot and then they will attack in the 10s of thousands. They love to build their nests around brick or concrete pavers and bed edging too. Because we get so much rain, they seek out places that they can build under to protect their nests from water damage. They will dig their nests under the foundation of a slab house, and under a large tree so their nest is protected by the tree's root system. The poison they are supposed to think is food no longer works as they don't touch it and just move over to another spot. Happy for you that you have found what works in your area, but it isn't a solution for everyone sadly.

[@bobchevallier8456]

Glad you let people know about the vicious terrorist fire ants in the South. Had the moving a potted plant is ue weeks ago. Moved it a few inches outside my door thousands exploded out.

[@brandonallen9853]

I use permethrin. It knocks em out. I hate them with a passion!

[@lanina4u]

I have potted plants in my apartment balcony and I think I have a colony, tons of them come out if I move the pot😫. I didn’t have this issue in my old apartment balcony. I sprinkled grounded coffee today hoping it helps. Do you have any recommendations for this?

[@NPC2_4_U]

Tip 3 worked for me. Along with Amgro. Watering helps as well the ants don't like wet soil.

[@dmangela5677]

Ants also make huge colonies in clay soil, even when the clay soil is heavily amended with organic material because they build their colonies' feet below the amended clay.

[@notatworklol]

Here in Texas fire ants are a pain. But I have been putting bait down in the spring after the mounds show up. I always sprinkle bait around my raised beds on the out side, so they don't make their home in my raised beds.

[@lindabirmingham603]

I live in NW SC and fire ants were a big problem in my new raised beds last summer. A master gardener from Clemson Home and Garden Info Center reviewed my soil test results with me and told me I had way too much organic matter in them. Sadly, loose organic soil didnt work for me.

[@casharyah9429]

What can be done about ants in your raised beds and container garden? I just saw ants in my raised garden soil bags.

[@robpar5282]

Awesome video, thank you for taking the time to learn the subject matter and explain it to us. Excellent job!

[@Mercurio-Morat-Goes-Bughunting]

An ant colony comprises a single superorganism and, like other organisms, it can be trained - although seasonal memory loss gets a bit old after ten years. I've got a colony of little sugar ants (the little black ones, not the half-inch black head, reddish-orange thorax, black head "sugar ant"). A little bit of methylated spirits in a spray gun can be used to tell the colony when you don't want it to forage in a particular part of the house (e.g. the kitchen). It kills and/or incapacitates the individual ants of the foraging arm which, for a superorganism, is the comparable to someone dousing ones hand with acid when one puts ones hand where it doesn't belong. If you're persistent and, importantly, consistent, they'll shift their focus to less adverse places.

[@tworebelsoffgrid]

This is great information! We purchased 36 acres in SE AZ and we have exactly the type of soil you talked about in the video. Although we probably will not be able to change the structure of all the soil on our property, we can at least work on the areas close to our living area. We actually were bit several times while putting our fence up at the end of last summer and feel your pain about the flip flops...I definitely wouldn't wear those around until we get them under control!

[@shelleysteed1767]

"Two Rebels Off the Grid"- You lay out millions of dollars to buy a massive 36-acre chunk of beautiful desert land in Arizona and then talk of changing the sandy soil composition to eliminate colonies of ants? Tfu.

[@tworebelsoffgrid]

@@shelleysteed1767 well if in your mind $28,000 is millions to you then…I’m sorry ..,unlike millionaires we don’t use the land as a extension of our ego,, we are living off the land and to grow here the soil needs amendments and we do what we have to do to grow.. if this means removing insects 🐜 then that’s what we have to do,, our interactions with nature are far less invasive then a city or town full of people relying upon massive commercial farms to keep them alive..we are intimate with the soil the environment and with God living the way we do.. but I also understand your assumptions

[@denisepacetti4559]

Awesome and excellent video with real working and accurate advice. Lifetime Florida resident here. But as a very important add on - to do what you have done (and admirable it truly is!) one must be vigilante and dedicated to the routine of discovery and annihilation immediately. I haven't achieved the level of perfection you have, but I'm still diligently trying! 😁

[@OleensEmbroidery]

That is what I have been doing. Every other day I walk the property looking for the first signs of fire ants. I have eradicated hundreds of hills since buying this property a year ago. Pretty much ant free now. I will continue the patrols.

[@perspectiveiseverything1694]

Florida is a whole other level. Fire ant nests ARE our soil! 😉

[@MikeSmith-nu9wt]

You step in them a few times it brings back that deligence..lol It's that time of year ..my place , the whole 40 acres is to damp for them , swamp land , but the yard ain't ..uugggghhhh .

[@vlunceford]

We have heavy clay at our home in NW Georgia AND we have fire ants galore! I don’t want to spread Sevin or other synthetic chemical products on my lawn but I have had pretty good success treating individual anthills with a mixture of 1-2 ounces cold-pressed orange oil and a glug of Dawn in a gallon of water.I pour the entire gallon on the anthill - if it’s very large, I might use 2-3 gallons.It works very, very well and eliminates having to treat my entire yard. I do occasionally treat individual anthills with Amdro or a similar product. I have also had ants build homes in my well-composted raised beds - definitely not light sand - and I can use my orange oil directly in my raised beds.

[@myurbangarden7695]

I have heard that orange 🍊 oil is good. I will try it.

[@LifeWithTurks]

I have ants in my raised beds. So you just add orange oil and a few squirts of dawn to a gallon container and pour it? I can’t see the ant mound inside my bed but I know it’s there because I see the ants crawling around in the bed. Should I pour the mix in the entire bed or dig to find the mound and pour it on that? Will the Orange oil/dawn mix affect my plants that are in the bed?

[@morganconley7111]

Yeah the whole ants won't live on organic matter thing is simply not true. The only two places I've been fighting ants in my whole yard is in my raised bed which I grow in 100% compost and in my compost pile itself. Both full of organic matter.

[@barbarac4750]

I used to spray the Argentine ants with strong peppermint oil water, it worked but peeled paint

[@sn232]

Same question as others - do you use orange oil, or orange oil/water/dawn on the raised beds, and does it affect the growth of your vegetables? Thank you

[@NedReck6967]

Ants can go in my yard all they want. I just don't want them in my kitchen!

[@PavethaWay]

Pour a pot of boiling hot water on the mound and its over...its not toxic and good for the enviornment. Its guaranteed to kill the nest in less than a min.

[@quartz3150]

Thanks. I'll try it again. I poured it over five ant mounds in my front yard. They didn't seem to mind much.

[@teresalegacy7099]

I have done this and it works perfectly!

[@idamcneill8005]

They will abandon that entrance to the mound, but the main nest can be many feet down & away, especially fire ants.

[@Thesheabuttercafe]

That didn't work this season the mound went down but these fire ants survived

[@G.G.8GG]

Tried this. They just regroup and move a few inches.

[@jocelyn3388]

Fighting ants is a lifetime battle, and I've tried every means, including borax , ant baits, diatomaceous earth and even pyrethrin. They are always a nuisance in my garden and they seem to tell me that I have to live with them. But I haven't tried the sevin granules. Maybe I'll grab a bag and start spreading throughout the lawn and see how it works.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

What I've found in that areas that suffer badly from ants need a full-circle approach. One approach just isn't enough, but when you combine all these things: a defensive barrier, spot-treatment of the ants that slip through the defenses, and long-term cultural practices that make your soil unbuildable, you can defeat them over a few seasons.

[@carolforsythe6316]

I use to pour hot cooking oil and boiling water in fire ant hills after I had already dug up one and moved it to the very back corner of my yard and every day I would scoop up my BIG DOGS poo( each dog weighed about 100 lbs each-2 of them so a LOT of poo) and I would put it on top of the fire ant hill, by late afternoon all the poo was gone!!!! poetic justice! EAT CACA and fertilize my yard while getting rid of a problem never had a problem with them after that. boiling water is my favorite

[@barbarac4750]

I'd much rather have a fire ant problem than these imported Argentine ants that is the fire ants only predator. If you are near water, look it up to see the difference. The only thing I know will kill them is broadcasting "talstar". I do need to apply 4 times a year to keep them back. Queen season is a nightmare, they are large and shiny and easily seen on my blacktop drive. Going for mushroom compost for the garden tomorrow

[@shancan6328]

@@carolforsythe6316 I do this too with boiling water. Can't do it in the middle of the lawn or it kills the grass though. I use Orange Guard also and it is oily and coats them and the ones on the surface die. It also is hard on the grass so have to be careful. Previous owner used all kinds of stuff on the lawn. He left some stuff in the shed so I know he used a lot of junk. All toxic. I had horrible ants after the first year and I also had NO worms or things good for the soil. Finally fire ants are less of an issue. I have more of the normal harmless ants with their small mounds and I am happy I have worms after a few years and bluebirds and other birds are on the grass safely eating whatever they eat. No toxic stuff used.

[@shancan6328]

@@barbarac4750 Barbara look up Orange Guard and give it a try. Good luck.

[@sharonaustin9701]

I live in Southern Alberta Canada. I used to live in right across the AB/BC . Our soil is black heavy soil. Very rich for gardening. Beside the Elf Valley River used to be a farm. This guy has mounds of ant hills on his land. He rips up the soil every year to destroy the mounds. He used to set fire to them by putting desiel fuel. This still didn't help. Borax and icing sugar helped I guess. Eventually he just stopped digging up the soil and left it as grass. I haven't seen it since then since I moved. My mothers place is the same for soil. But I found out something that really works. Used coffee grounds and cinnamon. They will not come near anywhere u put it. Its bad around Canada for flying ants. Big suckers! Once u introduce dried used coffee and cinnamon for a couple of years, the ants will move away. Great to use in flower beds and around trees but not in gardens. Only around the outside of the garden. Heard u can put cinnamon in ur compost before u use it in ur garden before winter.

[@GinaKayLandis]

Why not in gardens? acidity?

[@joniboulware1436]

I have a lot of used coffee grounds in my compost. Not just a little. - Starbucks bags full. I know they are not broken down yet, but fire ants moved in. They might repel your Canadian ants, but not Texas fire ants!

[@rockjockchick]

This is a natural cure I have not tried yet. I’ll see what happens.

[@melinda3196]

I used the "let the ants fight" method and it works every time! I put ants from one mound on a different mound. Somehow they all leave because they don't like invader ants....in about an hour, NO ANTS

[@sandracastle42]

How do you move the ants without getting bitten?

[@s.williams8985]

@@sandracastle42 ++++ She Probably Scoops & Quickly Dumps Them To Other Mounds With A Shovel. I Would Have A Can Of Ant Spray To Spray The Shovel Afterwards. 🤔🤷‍♀️

[@gonzopenguin]

@@sandracastle42 use a shovel

[@jimdavis1566]

@@sandracastle42 really fast

[@sandracastle42]

@@jimdavis1566 yeah right?

[@willaimwphoto]

Mix baking side with powdered sugar mix well, really well. Sorinkle over the colony mound.

[@jeanpolkoski2107]

I use 3 c powdered sugar 1c borax. Sprinkle it near the ants. They aren't seen again. Some are protein ants and if I had those, I would use peanut butter and borax.

[@BCSBCS-ee6yi]

Catch there is that same mix also kills squirrels, mice and chipmunks. 3 MAJOR pests to gardens, homes, barns, sheds, etc. Between that and food grade D.E., we've never had to resort to any of this toxic commercial crap that eventually makes it into groundwater/wells.

[@krielkip]

"Kills 100 insects" What about the bees? They are endangered here, and we know without bees gardening is over. We need them, like wurms. This stuff kills wurms too. I have all raised beds here, thousands of ants came over two years ago and ruined a big piece of my harvest. Then I read some tip that I followed: we saved all the nutshells that year like wallnut, pistache etc. and topped two of the raised beds with that. No ants at all in those two last year, also very nice: no slugs! They really hate the pistache mostly I think. This year I'm covering 4 of the 8 beds (we couldn't eat more nuts 😂) and the other ones with coconuthair (partly in the soil) and twigs. I also spray the plants and soil with water mixed with lemonjuice, garlic, dishwashingliquid and a bit of vegetable oil. Fingers crossed!! I don't want to use insectkiller..

[@AnnetteP-002]

Can you please share your formula ratios? Sounds like your concoction would reduce a lot of diff pests in the garden w/o hurting the precious bees.

[@razorburn7745]

You’re going to over acidify your soil doing that.

[@krielkip]

@@razorburn7745 With a few drops of lemonjuice?

[@krielkip]

@@AnnetteP-002 Hi Annette. First I take a liter of water and boil a handful chopped garlic for 2 minutes, I let it cool of with the lid on. Pour through sieve, put in spraybottle, add 10 drops of clear jemon juice, 3 drops of dishwaschingsoap and 5 drops of vegetable oil. Sometimes I use a few drops of neem-oil too but that tends to block up the spray. New to me is Lavender-oil, just got that and I'm just going to add a few drops to the mix see what happens (besides a good smell :-) )

[@lagoya]

Dang I was really hoping for a solution that didn’t involve one of the worst insecticides. Oh well! Still appreciate your informative videos very much 🙂👍

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I mean, pyrethoids are far from one of the worst insecticides. They’re actually pretty safe as long as you don’t use them near waterways, streams and storm drains. You also can buy less potent brands. The point is, once you get it under control, you can mostly resort to small spot treatments and not have to use the granules anymore unless you have some severe outbreak.

[@EvolutionWendy]

@@TheMillennialGardener right I understood that, you explain why the long-lasting pyrethroids needs to be used just 1X, And ants are in no danger whatsoever of becoming extinct. I have clay soil in California with low humidity 100° summers, however your advice usually applies to me despite the humidity difference

[@rockjockchick]

@@EvolutionWendy true but other bugs such as bees are in danger

[@aibell4800]

I’ve used diatomaceous earth with fair success. Although I don’t have fire ants (NY) it works on regular ants.

[@donherndon6331]

Diatomaceous Earth does work on Fire Ants. It dries them out and is non toxic. Great for gardens and places where you must be 100% safe. However, we're going to add some of the suggestions in the video as well in areas that the DE just can't handle. I think DE is a great way to maintain once you have control.

[@sterlinguini]

Covering the lawn in long lasting poison is not a good solution

[@montymonto6430]

3:50 once I reached "kills all insects", I'm out of here. I am not going to use poison. Thanks.

[@Shirmagedrusclau]

One question I have with the granules. Is that toxic to dogs? When is it best to apply the granules to the grass area? Do you wet it down after you apply it? I have four dogs and my backyard grass is all organic. I never see ants in the grass mostly in my garden beds. But I've noticed the more compost material I lay down and then this year will be seasoned wood chips I'm hoping my aunt problem will diminish or be totally gone. You're always very informative and great description and instructions on how to use products. I'm up in Connecticut Hartford. I think I would buy the natural chrysanthemum product

[@Shirmagedrusclau]

I meant to ask you this question for the product Sevin.. is that product good for killing ticks?

[@Tillettforct]

Hi neighbor 👋 I'm up in Hartford County also container gardening due to the ants 🐜 and rabbits 🐇 in the area ✈

[@mariatorres9789]

Yes, both those are toxic for you or your dog. It breaks down in water, so it'll be safe again, after a heavy rain, for the Sevin dust. The flea pesticide, I'm pretty sure is oil based, and won't break down as easily.

[@suzyhall3349]

I have huge fire ant hills and live in a very wet area. The front pasture has red clay a foot or so under ground, but the back us less clay. But regardless, the fire ants aren't daunted by the bog...they also love living in manure piles and large compost containers. So apparently they are adaptable.

[@MrChevelle83]

ive seen this as well ants are insanely adapatable! ive use the amdro on spot mounds and it works pretty good i like the boiling water in the raise beds but its super labor intensive and you gotta be on your A game of persistence

[@cynthiawolfe3419]

I agree. Our fire ants are very adaptable and we also have red clay. They are bad here in our part of NC and we live on 5 acres. We use bait and scalding hot water but it's time consuming.

[@kenshinhimura9387]

​@@cynthiawolfe3419 orange oil, dish soap and 1 gallon of water. Mix up and pour into the nest. Goodbye ants. Rinse and repeat for every nest you find.

[@survivormary1126]

My one concern with the chemicals would be that they may be taken up into the plants and kill beneficial insects, mainly the Bees. If you have nothing flowering in your lawn that means you use Round-up, that destroys out water supply, air, and land.

[@drheck]

just destroy all life around you for your convenience!

[@survivormary1126]

@drheck Exactly. It's beyond horrible when you drive around and see these Perfect lawns and golf courses where they have killed everything. To protect a structure from being eaten by ants you can simply use food grade diatomaceous earth. That's the most I ever do. I keep my land 100%organic.

[@garynicholls72]

Sweet video keep them coming. Hi Gary from the UK, here in the UK I tend to use Borax and sugar equal quantities , I just put a teaspoon of the mix on a line of ants as close to the main nest as possible and that will sort them out. They take the mix back to the nest and feed it to the Queen and it Will kill her, after that the ant colony will separate and split up job well done. Ps I don't know what the ant colony will do in the US but it works in the UK

[@MeemsKaso]

Ok…I’m going through this right now!!! I’ve never seen or heard of “fire ants” until I moved to Texas 3 years ago. In the last 2 weeks I’ve been stung 27 times. NOW deathly afraid of them. I can’t keep them off of 5 acres 😳 BUT I will try your 3 steps. As a native CA Girl, I never wear shoes. Barefeet or flip flops only. Now I have to garden in long pants, with tube sock’s pulled over my pant legs & then a pair of heavy black construction boots. I have to wear long sleeves with gloves pulled over my sleeves. Those bites are horrific & so painful & last for weeks. HOWEVER…I don’t have any sandy loamy soil. I’m in clay. I currently have 32 mounds/colonies in my 1 acre garden area. Three days ago I was putting blood meal around my cabbage when I pulled back my hay mulch & thousands of them poured out of one of my 4x12’ raised garden bed. I screamed! First time those suckers didn’t get me because my skin was covered!! My husband came running! How in the world do I keep them out of my raised beds forever? They are everywhere & make me want to stop. It’s out of control. Heeby jeebies 🫣

[@tonyperkins3505]

Had 6 acres in AL, fire ants were terrible, sprinkle self rising cornmeal on the mounds, make sure it’s self rising, what it doesn’t kill, the mounds move, after a couple of years you tell where the neighbors property was by the mounds in their yard, the ants don’t know what is killing the mound and move to get away from what ever it is.

[@SocketSlinger]

I enjoyed your video and the tips you have given. I would like for you to clarify something about the ants we have in NC. There's a invasive type of black imported fireants that love moist decomposition like mulch, old wood, cardboard and other such things. They are tiny and not only bite but also sting and the reaction to most people is worse than a sweat bee but not quite as bad as a wasp. To me it's considerably similar to yellow jackets. They also love stacks of blocks, bricks, rocks and just about anywhere where there's compost and moisture close. Their nest are always in moist dark places and are very aggressive. They also have ground nests and hard to kill.

[@dee73]

You are right i decided to mulch around all the trees we had never had fire ants before it code to find out the mulch was eat up with fire ant eggs we spent hundreds of dollars trying to kill these things with little success so I really can't agree with the ants not building or laying eggs in the did the mulch in the fibrous material

[@theleefamily6446]

I have these also. I placed stepping stone pavers along the path in my fruit tree guild and many of the stones are now hiding some type of ant.

[@richjageman3976]

I guess my way of framing around the ant holes and pouring molten aluminum cans down the hole is much harder work, but it is enjoyable and leaves a trophy if you do not remelt it and reuse it. I have also used CO2 cartridges in the hole and a bowl over it to hold the gas there. Poured DE down the holes as well. All seemed to have worked.

[@tesswagner895]

I love ❤️ the sculptures pouring aluminum down the fire ant hole makes!!! My nephew introduced me to someone on KZbin who does that. Is that you????

[@richjageman3976]

@@tesswagner895 I have never filmed any. I will search for the YT videos of it. Might get some good ideas.

[@tesswagner895]

@@richjageman3976 Do. They look like bushes or coral. One of them was 3 ft tall. It's amazing to see the network in the ground they build. What do your results look like with the aluminum?

[@tesswagner895]

Florida fox anthill art is the channel.

[@richjageman3976]

@@tesswagner895 With the ants around my area the castings look just like you said, leafless bushes or coral. It takes a lot of cans though! I might try to use Wood's metal or similar if I can find some that is not too expensive.

[@kwhitehomcd]

If the insect killer kills all insects, doesn't that mean you kill all the insects including bugs that birds eat which in turn kills birds?

[@karenandcatz2915]

I didn’t want to kill birds and the huge population of lizards around my house but the roaches and spiders needed to go!!! My yard is all small rocks with really big rocks making decorative borders around the desert plants. In the evenings, billions of roaches crawl out of the spaces between and under the large rocks!!! 🙀 A friend told me to use diatomaceous earth because it was safe for animals but bad for bugs. It seemed to work but only until the first big rain. I then tried the Borax and peanut butter method. I made little trays of this mix out of aluminum foil and placed them around and weighted them with rocks. I wasn’t sure what that would do to the animals, but I was told it wouldn’t hurt them. The birds didn’t seem to eat the dead roaches, and there were hundreds of them!!! 15:08 They appeared to crawl out of the rocks to die!!! Now I need to figure out what to do about the black widows and huge wolf spiders! Every evening in the summer the wolf spiders can be seen on the walls of my house and if I smash them, hundreds of babies explode off their bodies!!!

[@bobchevallier8456]

​@@karenandcatz2915 🙈💩a nightmare! Thanks for info

[@infotechyeti]

thanks for the video. im a new home owner and have, what I think, multiple ant colonies in the back yard. ant bait and building a perimeter around the yard seems good. gonna head out right after work to get some ant bait and might use all of the grass clippings as a organic perimeter around the house to help. . i hope to have a small garden but would like to get rid of the ants first and clear up the yard.

[@janetwebb6869]

I seriously have my doubts..also ran this by my husband, and he doesn't believe it stands a chance. We live in a rather desolate area of TX - Midland County. Anywhere from 18" to 3.5' down we run into caliche, depending on what spot in the yard. Otherwise we do have a well-draining sandy type soil. We have installed raised beds for most all gardening, from 3 small beds that are only one 2x6 above ground level, to 5 larger raised beds that are three-2X6s tall, for ease of gardening. We also have a corner area where we plant directly into the soil.I developed that bed spring of 2022, so this is our second year to use that location. While there are some ants in the garden area that is without a raised bed, the majority of the ants are in our high organic matter raised beds. I do not know what types of ants they are. They're black, with some being close to 1/4" and the others about 1/3" in length. Theyre everywhere in all of my raised beds. They started in the corner of one of the taller raised beds, but have spread now to the other three beds. Husband says I've created an oasis for them due to regular watering. There are a few in the single 2x6 tall beds, but most are in the taller beds. They're all over my crops. I don't know if they will actually do damage to them, but sticking my hand in there to check on plants can be rather painful!! The point is that they are in the areas with the very most organic matter.

[@stevebuchanan4829]

Nice Job, very thorough. I have some ant nests in my sand based patio areas covered by bricks. would you recommend just putting the poison around those areas where they have come to the surface? Other wise I guess they will destroy the patio itself by ruining it with their tunnels?

[@fayethrockmorton4647]

Good morning, what do you use for the big ants in potted plants outside? I live in Florida and the big ants get in my Potted plants outside.

[@mofomoco]

I believe ants help keep other bugs away from your house. I decided to leave my ants alone. I try to limit their food sources so they will hunt more. I would rather habe ants than termites.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

You've never had fire ants. They kill people and pets. They are extremely dangerous, aggressive and will ruin your entire yard quickly.

[@pinnacleconsulting321]

Super informative and quite impressive gardens. A few basic followup ?'s: 1.) Did you utilize any formal plans or just sort of measure the general area and build the raised beds to fit the space? 2.) What was the approximate SF and budget for the materials, loam, fencing etc.? 3.) With the significant space you have, I am sure the yield is substantial. What do you do with all the produce? Give it to friends/ family? Can/ preserve it? etc. I had about 12 tomato plants last year and had so many tomatoes, I put a table out at the street and said TAKE SOME ! Any other input you'd care to share would be awesome. Thanks !

[@denisef1153]

Soup kitchens

[@zabajart]

Interesting video, I have taken gardening classes with my local extension office here in Middle Georgia, and was always told not to throw sand over the yard to help grass grow, we have heavy clay soil, so when I aerate my lawn and dethatch it I usually use a combination of evergreen topsoil and mix in compost to fill in bare spots and don’t usually have fire ant issue that I can control with Ortho ant killer on the few mounds I find

[@davidbarnes8315]

Once again MG man you delivered a spot on ,and solid information that makes complete sense to go with!!! You really enlighten our wonderful journey in being the best we can with our food garden 🏡 thank you for your inspiration !!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you! I'm glad the video was informative. It's been quite the learning experience moving here to the coastal Carolinas, because I never had any of these problems living up north.

[@marymoore2962]

@@TheMillennialGardener l

[@teenagardner3623]

Great content 👌 I've been struggling for while as the ants were all in my garden. I actually wear slippers outside doing work cause they are easier to get off if I do not know I've stepped in ants. Dale is so cute. His face was pretty serious. "Don't play with my emotions, Dad," my Bear does same thing lol

[@lindageorge6663]

No

[@davidmatlou186]

​@@lindageorge6663 ß

[@gardentours]

Thanks for sharing 👍 We had so many ants in the garden last year. We had woodchips in the garden for the first time and they really like those woodchips.

[@Wynterraven1111]

Absolutely love your garden! Thanks for this video, our entire yard is literally an ant hill.

[@Ty_stixx]

Are there other, safe ways for this? Putting a poison that the ants take back down, will not only kill the ants, but also make that poison available for other plants to uptake for you to put into your body (if growing eatables). Thoughts

[@bigrich6750]

I really learn a lot from your videos. I have a huge ant mound in a stump that was left from hurricane Sally. I filled the stump with compost and planted black berries in the stump but ants got into the stump. As you mention, they’re not in the compost but have build a huge mound on the side of the stump and into the ground. They go crazy every time I water the black berries, so your suggestions will be my strategy.

[@jimriley9697]

We must have different species of ants. Mine make colonies in every kind of soil I've got, from hard clay, to garden beds, to damn near rocks around the driveway. My nemesis.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Examine the ant hills and look at the earth that comes out. See if it is sandy. You can have heavy soil with pockets of sand.

[@barbarac4750]

I bet you have Argentine ants too

[@ladyela9283]

This is great information! My only concern is our dog who is a pit and boxer mix, and maybe a little bigger than Dale. He has roamed freely in the front and back yard, and I'm nervous about spreading the Sevin in the front. We are set up the same way as you - food in the back. If we were to restrict where he can go by walking him on a leash and not tossing anything for him to catch, how long would we have to do that, please? I sure hope you'll see this and will reply. Thank you for your outstanding videos!

[@Valchrist1313]

The Sevin is designed to last for months. It's not likely to be dangerous to the dog in normal amounts, though instructions will be on the back. Another form, permethrins, are used in veterinary soaps and other animal products. The other product he showed that is applied directly to ant-hills should be neutralized by the rain, and even degrade quite quickly in sunlight. But it would be much more concentrated if he ate it out of the dirt, for some reason. For whatever reason, these chemicals are much more dangerous to cats than dogs.

[@thomasw7952]

My father uses the unsafe method of pouring some gasoline on the mound and lighting it. One time, fumes had built-up around his feet, and when he light it...

[@JFSmith-nb8hf]

I live in the Az. high desert, fire ants are a big problem. I've used Amdro with no effect. Have actually seen the ants carrying the granules away from the mound and dumping them! I'll try the Sevin around the mounds. I have 5 acres, so it's impractical to spread it everywhere, and would likely kill everything. Thanks for the info👍

[@gumbypokey]

yep...they know that bait ain't good...

[@kendal3764]

From Texas, It sounds extreme but I use old gasoline, put about a cup in a fire ant mound n wait 30 minutes then light it up, it will pop n smoke not just from that mound but from all the surrounding mounds too, they are all interconnected, this goes on for several minutes n it kills all the ants for 30 or so feet in all directions. It doesn't hurt the good bugs like earthworms n rolly polys n I usually don't have any ants for the rest of the season. It will kill the spot of grass where you place it but the fire ant mound was doing that anyway...

[@Susann1984]

😂 kindred spirit here in Ga

[@cmb52]

I believe that's illegal, but....

[@valerieprice1745]

Ants eat termites. They also eat pest insects. They don't usually eat garden plants.

[@mrssibelius]

What a great comment! We often think of termites when we "hate" ants.

[@anikac8380]

Organic soil improvement that’s what I thought would be your most eligible measure. I’m happy to see I was right. Fun game show. The ant bait is a good idea, but I can’t bend my organic principles enough to Cast sevin all around. Did you know that cinnamon disrupts ants’ ability to communicate? It’s fun, because it happens instantly. If you see a line of ants, sprinkle cinnamon across the trail, and voilà, they will be suddenly cut off from each other. It’s mayhem! What would happen if you sprinkle some cinnamon right on top of an ant hill? What if you thrust in a stick and stirred the colony around and then surrounded the spots with cinnamon? They wouldn’t be able to cross, so would they manage to pull a Hogan’s Heroes Escape? Please experiment. I don’t have all these ants to fool with, but you do. Cinnamon!

[@debbiejastrzebski6722]

I've found that peppermint oil sprinkled around and watered inti the dirt does help a little. Debbie

[@manandatractor]

I'm in a coastal region and we have fire ants. In neglected areas their mound can be basketball size. I tried the granule bait with mixed results. It would kill off the nest somewhat but in many cases mounds would pop up nearby telling me that some of the ants scattered and created new nests. I tried a new approach using Talstar P (bifenthrin ). I would soak the mound with a solution of 1 oz to 1 gallon of water. I have completely eliminated all the fire ants in my 2 acre lawn. Prior I had several dozen mounds. In full disclosure, the bifenthrin is some wicked voodoo. It kills everything, good bugs and bad bugs, so if you choose to go this route, do so with discretion and read the documentation thoroughly, however it is routinely used in food handling areas, poultry houses and whatnot. It is most definitely not to be used in vegetable gardens.

[@saintamerican6105]

Going to try this asap

[@Jeannette311]

Thank you for the video! Very helpful for me, I have severe ants in SC. I do have stray cats though in the neighborhood and I don't want to hurt them. I'm going to watch this a few more times, there's so much good info here!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

A lot of the toxicity warnings on pyrethrins/pyrethoids for cats come from flea shampoo. The active ingredient in most dog flea shampoos are pyrethrins, because dogs are not harmed by pyrethrins. Cats, on the other hand, are, so the people that see their cats harmed by pyrethrins are those that are using dog flea shampoo on their cats. That is a HUGE no-no, because cats are sensitive to pyrethrins, so using dog flea shampoo on cats can be very dangerous. People don't know that. They see flea shampoo for dogs and figure they can use it on their cats, too. That's the problem. Here is a good article explaining the problem: vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/pyrethrinpyrethroid-poisoning-in-cats Keep in mind when spreading bifenthrin granules or something like that on your lawn, that's a little different than submerging your cat in flea shampoo or giving them flea and tick preventative, which is where these problems occur. In this case, you would apply the granules around 5PM, turn on the sprinklers to water them in as directed, then let them dry fully. They have pet-safe instructions on the label you must read. Here is the label info: www.domyown.com/is-sevin-insecticide-granules-harmful-to-dogs-and-cats-qa-34171.html#:~:text=Sevin%20Granules%20are%20pet%20safe%20when%20used%20as,people%20are%20can%20return%20to%20the%20area%20safely.

[@Jeannette311]

@@TheMillennialGardener you are amazing, thank you so much. I don't want to hurt any poor cats in the neighborhood!

[@Avo7bProject]

It's unfortunate we have to discuss this, 30 years ago N.C. did not have fire ants. It does look like you have a different type on the coast, then I see inland. The images you showed were of ant hills with a large central hole. The red imported fire ant (RIFA) makes mounds without any obvious hole. The ants like well-drained sunny slopes. Usually don't find them in moist or shady areas.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

The flora and fauna here in Brunswick County are entirely different than the rest of the state. It's almost like we live on an island, here. There are numerous species of biting/stinging ants where I live of all different colors and sizes. I don't know exactly what they are, but they are fast, they bite, and they hurt. Because it's February, I don't have any ant hills yet, so the filming examples I took were meant to illustrate my soil-type. I believe they are mole cricket holes, and they're just starting to become active. All this week is 70's, so the ants are going to start waking up, and I wanted to be timely with this video.

[@sue5427]

@@TheMillennialGardener I grew up on Long Beach in the 70s. There were definitely the large red fire ants on the island back then. The smaller red ants in Southport. Great info for those that don't know.

[@joycehandersonfriends3225]

@@TheMillennialGardener It's Thursday, 2/16/23. I live in Ocean Isle Beach on the mainland, and to my horror I just found a giant fire ant hill in my yard. Yep, with the warm weather, THEY'RE WAKING UP HERE!

[@Sense2024]

🔥🐜🔥🐜🔥🐜🔥🐜

[@kennethmurage3625]

@@Sense2024 Why are they called FIRE ANTS ? 🔥🐜🇰🇪.

[@cziviski1110]

I will definitely be doing all that this year! Trying not to call a pest control company this year!

[@StevePabody-g2u]

We have 2500 square feet of raised bed garden space in the Florida panhandle. We use weed mat in between much of that space. Our beds are made from very rich organic soil. It has been our experience that none of this is a problem for fire ants and we constantly battle them every year. Recently we have had fairly good success using “Cone and Get it” granules but nothing we have tried has proven to be a permanent fix. Ants are resilient, perhaps that’s why Proverbs instructs us to study them. Stay strong, stay diligent!

[@ItsTheBeBe]

Great video - thanks! Makes perfect sense as I’m in NWFL and sandy soil is my life. Mine is actually a bit better than most, at least in some areas due to a previous owner couple who prolifically planted and amended my postage stamp backyard (townhouse community) and flowerbed areas of the front. My front yard is fairly large, relatively speaking, because I’m a corner and the city has big setbacks in case of future sidewalks (I guess). Anyway, as you garden in flip flops, I garden BAREFOOTED so my feet can sometimes look like a teenage boy’s face during puberty if I’m not careful. Couple of questions: 1) I often have ant colonies form on my STREET just at the edge of my yard since the asphalt and concrete cracks also fill with sand. Anything you’d do differently there? 2) I’ve had A LOT of yard dirt wash out of my yard over the years due to being at a bit higher grade. I have a huge magnolia and two gigundo live oaks whose roots are becoming quite apparent on TOP of the yard. Will the Sevin stuff hurt them at all? Thanks again!

[@gerikucinski2427]

You definitely want to eliminate fire ants and other biting ants, but if you have peonies they need ants to bloom. The ants remove sap from the flower buds so they can open.

[@michelezink8677]

Do they really? I literally just bought peonies (bushes) yesterday and have zero clue about these -

[@gerikucinski2427]

@@michelezink8677 I heard the ‘ants on peonies’ story over 50 years ago, and have let ants roam on my peonies. After posting this, I googled ‘ants on peony buds’ and some reports say it’s an old wives tale. So, if the ants aren’t bothering anyone, it’s ok to ignore them, but it may not be a crisis if you don’t see any.

[@debbierowe5562]

The sap on my peony s is eaten by flys wasp and bees. Not had ants in my peony’s

[@CriticalThinker27]

The fire ants in my north eastern Texas yard are very attracted to all the areas where I have heavily mulched with wood chips and or amended with rich organic matter.

[@mohammedatik8324]

Really appreciate your hard work ,and sharing the out come 👍👍

[@Cynbad333]

Thank you so much for sharing all this info. I'm a Master Gardener in SW Virginia and we have property in the OBX area as well. You nailed it!

[@Ellis1127]

This was awesome information and I will try the amdro as we have some colonies.

[@RMC-q9y]

The "ant mound" that you show in your video with a large hole in the center of a very structured, less sandy, approximately 4 inch mound could be a digger bee or other ground dwelling bee home. Since they are pollinators you might not want to kill these off. If it seems inactive, it is probably a bee home vs. wasp vs. ant as wasps and ants will be active around the mound, whereas the single bee that lives in this hole will rarely come and go, as I understand their nature.

[@kathyandlucy5341]

Wow! Great video. I'm now in MS, retired transplant from CA. So I'm new to fire ants.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

They get old fast 😂 I can’t tell you how many species of ants we have here on the NC coast, but they all bite 😣

[@stephaniescarlett7887]

just wanna letya know how helpful you always are, man. i live acoupla hours west of you, so i feel that i can pretty much always apply your advice to address my needs- though i have different yard soil for sure- Orange County- Orange clay- perfect for mudpies and mud puddles and red ants out tha wazzoo my brother!!!!They've never bitten me- outside or in, but every year they end up invading the interior of the house- in high summer- black ones these are- and huge...we always do the boric acid and sugar/h2osyrup, and it works- inside- but do ya think they are comin in seeking better living conditions? it's not like theyre formin a colony inside- they seem to be solo, rogue dudes huntin down food, water and a/c?! i dunno, man- all i do know is that they will be here in a few months, again. Any ideas? Thanks again! -bugged in hillsborough

[@bethotoole6569]

I learned a trick from my mother in law decades ago to help with ants in the house. Talc. I put a very thin line of talc around the baseboards near doors or near windows. They walk through it,, they die. Not sure how but it works very well and isn’t toxic for pets.

[@donaldatkinson7937]

Sounds like you got black crazy ants, do they when excited run in a erratic way? If so, you need to go outside and try to find a trail of them, usually they have nest at base of a tree, sometimes in the tree, find the nest and spray it. Put some honey on the ground and watch where they are going.

[@betty-jocarlo5980]

Thank you for helping me with my ant issue. I think the mounds with the big holes 🕳 are yellow jacket nests. They use their back legs to push the dirt out. They're a big wasp with beautiful yellow stripes. I ran over a large nest of them with a lawn mower. They came out of the ground everywhere around me.

[@amygail5118]

Thanks for sharing your engineering problem solving! You laid out a good strategy here. I live in Louisiana so fire ants are a huge problem and natural methods just don’t work. We bought a home & lot that had multiple huge ant mounds, so I had an exterminator contract at first. Now, in year 2, im trying to save money and start building my edible garden so don’t want the bait everywhere anymore . The ants have returned with a vengeance. We aren’t ready to get the compost and build beds to enrich the soil just yet, so I laid black plastic and weed blocking fabric so my husband doesn’t have to mow every week this summer. I thought this would solve the ant issue, but they seem to be all over the plastic which is bumming me out. I don’t know if there are mounds underneath the plastic or what. Got the ant bait and waiting for a day without rain right now. Ill go ahead and buy the natural first product you mentioned (starts with a p)for the future. I hadn’t heard of that. Glad to know once we lay out the beds and paths, the good soil will help. I made borax and sugar baits for around my few plants. Seems to be working and are full quickly but there are still millions crawling on everything. 😅

[@BritishRiver]

By laying down black plastic, you have created an environment that is perfect for them without them having to do any work! (Dark and moist). The ants love you! Try using 2-3 sheets of newspaper instead. Lay it down, water it to keep it in place, cover with mulch. (mulch doesn't have to be purchased -- use hay, pecan or other nut shells, pine cones, pine needles, pebbles, shredded leaves.

[@amygail5118]

@@BritishRiver thanks so much for the information. I had no idea that would be a side effect of trying to kill the grass. We’ll be pulling up the plastic soon. Glad to hear that will solve a lot of the problem.