Any tips for dealing with invasion of ants?

[brokenteddychair]

We have been overcome by ants! We found a huge nest in one of our plant pots a few weeks ago and got rid of it. Seemed to fix the issue for a while but now they are all over our patio again. Tried following the trails and they seem to be going in two directions, one down a crack between patio and lawn, and then under our fence to neighbour’s house. Any tips for getting rid of these permanently please? 😩gar

I thought you were going to say they were in your house so I was ready with some tips. As you can see by my username, I have some experience. Every year they start coming in in the summer.

But if they are just outside - let them be! We have LOADS , but they are just harmless (quite beneficial in fact).

They are harmless. Please don’t kill them.

Can I have the inside tips please? Although I gave in and called Rentokill in March and am on the any plan till end Oct. so far the gel and spray has resolved the indoor problem.

Outside is next level. Black ants as usual in the beds and patio but red ants nests all over the lawn front and back. We are overrun with bloody ants.

Here for non-cruel tips for ants in the house. Agree with everyone saying leave ants alone in the garden!

I do in the main garden although it's annoying that their nests have rendered one of the most on view parts of the bed next to the patio uninhabitable by plants, but on the drive they are under the block paving and digging all the sand out. So any non-cruel tips welcome but I suspect there aren't really any.

We seem to have a few more in the garden each year, but I haven't noticed any plants suffering. I'm not sure that they are actually a problem? Could there be other causes of your plants not doing well? Googling suggests that their presence may correlate with that of aphids, which may be the culprit.

They will move if the nest becomes too wet - so you can try watering them. It's quite interesting but also sad to see them moving the eggs. But honestly, unless they are really in your way - leave them be. We (as a species) have killed enough insects.

This is worth a read
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/action-for-insects

Any tip for getting rid of the vicious red ants. We’ve had them for years in part of our garden. The bite everyone they can, their bites are painful and lots of people seem to react badly to them and get massive swollen lumps where they’ve been bitten immediately. Really don’t know how else to get rid of them.

Nematodes

That's the problem with ants. They farm aphids for their sticky, sugary excretions, and actually move aphids from plant to plant.

I'm plagued by bites from our red ants.
I have to wear trousers tucked into socks and insect repellent on hands and arms.
And sun block.
It's unpleasant but no other solution.

In my case we had a lovely little area behind a retaining wall above the patio with aubrieta tumbling over the wall and other rockery type plants for years. The ants completely hollowed out all the soil in that corner and the plants died. Nothing I plant there grows now. I have put pots there instead but they do the same to those, I just have to keep replacing the plants now.

we are over run with ants. im talking about 40 or so ant hills about 1 to 2ft high. the gardens were neglected before we moved here a couple of months ago. They are digging up the foundations of the greenhouse!

i have bought some diatomaceous powder to kill them, and am trying to keep the areas wet. also cutting the tops off the top of the ant hills and regular mowing of grass. I have yet to see if it actually works but just thought I'd comment, because I'm not sure the people saying leave the ants alone in the garden really know what an invasion is truly like.

I only know ants are nesting in a plant pot when theplant wilts, so how can the ants not be damaging the plant?