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I have a ton of ants in my garden. What do I do?

There are tons of sugar ants in my garden. I wouldn't mind them, but they're everywhere and whenever I'm working in there, they get upset and bite me. Kind of annoying! Are they harmful to any of my plants? Is there any safe way to get rid of them? I have an organic garden and don't want to put anything toxic in it.

Public Comments

1. I have often thought of having this problem. How about putting salt on the edge of the garden? I bet the ants would not like that. Recently I heard that club soda would get rid of them.
2. mix some sugar and amonia and leave it out where the ants will find it they'll carry the sugar back to their little ant hill and all the ants in the hill will eat it and will be poisoned by the amonia.....no more ants sounds kinda mean, but it works
3. You don't want ants in your garden. Their presence indicates aphids. Ants protect the aphids so they can eat aphid's surgery excretions. Roach Pruf is basically boric acid.......or sometimes you can find plain boric acid in hardware stores (like Ace or TrueValue) or some nurseries. Normally used for roaches indoors, you can make a syrup laced with boric acid for your ants. Just boil sugar and water together, oh maybe 1:1 or so. Let cool, add boric acid....stir to dissolve. Now take cotton balls and wet them with the solution. Put inside small jars.....like babyfood size with holes poked in the lid for the ants to enter. Tape the lid to prevent children and pets from taking the lids off. Now place the jars in shade, on the ground, near the ant nest. The ants will take the sugary water back to the queen and when she's dead, so goes the colony. Boric acid is perfectly safe for us and since only the ants will get into it, safe for the environment. Me, I buy Amdro....it works faster, but doesn't qualify as organic.
4. Sprinkle some grits ( yes the kind you eat for breakfast) all around the garden and the ant hills. They will pick up the little pieces and carry them inside to share. When they drink water the morsels will swell inside them and they will die. You can't get any more ORGANIC than grits!
5. Borax