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Ants nests in lawns

A lot of ants' nests in lawns this year ! I cut most of my lawns fortnightly and noticed them springing up in between cuts ...... can make a bit of a mess when mower goes over them with resulting bare patch etc .
Any advice on the best way of dealing with them . Do you get involved with trying to kill them off or leave it to the client to treat etc. ?

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  • I've also seen a huge amount of this. Is it possibly due to the wet start to the year ?. Anyway, I always walk the lawn first, & if I find one I hit it with the back of a shovel, cut the grass then sprinkle a bit of seed on it.

    Rob

  • I've used ant-powder with quite a bit of success. Use a half-moon and make a slit in the mound, lever it to one side and puff the powder into the slot and then tread it back down again afterwards. Doesn't affect the grass at all.

  • I'm with Rob regarding process apart from dealing with the mound ahead of cutting: if it's dry soil a stiff hand brush can take 50% off the top and then brush/spread the remainder before over-seeding.

    Many of our clients have had mounds appear that have never been present anywhere before. The earliest (although it is a perennial problem at that property) was recorded as being 7 March this year for us. The mild Autumn & Winter are definitely a factor.

    On a practical note I've found the speed and efficiency levels applied to kneeling down and weeding beds and borders from ant-infested lawns increases enormously :->

    And on an anecdotal note.....a run of sugar across to a trap can allegedly work a treat. If someone experiments before we do.....post the event here!

    Cheers, Eugene

  • I've noticed loads this year, lawn I mowed today had about a dozen, some black ants and some red, loads of eggs at the top.

  • Yep my own lawn of 13 years - never really had any problems before and only cut a couple of days a go and this morning low and behold 8 small mounds ..... must be the mild Winter but strange not to have seen any birds after them .

  • Thought the same thing, I would expect to see birds eating the eggs as it's an easy meal.

  • PRO

    Yes there are certainly lots about this year.

    From a purely personal perspective I would view a colony of ants as far more important than a patch of grass and couldn't bring myself to kill of a whole colony just so my lawn looked nice.

    Any clients I take on are fully aware that I don't use any insecticides or pesticides so that kind of gets me off the hook.

  • I take a similar stance Simon, I just leave them be.

  • PRO
    Ants are very numerous this year. I have lost count of the number of ants nests on lawns.....must be in the triple figures by now. I deal with them in different ways dependant on the customer. 1) Do nothing, run over them and leave a patch which soon disappears, 2) apply ant powder, brush off soil from lawn and apply seed or 3) run around them. I have no preference either way as generally ants in the lawn do me no harm. However having accidentally knelt in a red ants nest in a flower bed I now check bloody carefully before I start working in a border!
  • I support wildlife in a garden as much as I can and don't use any insecticides or pesticides. But today I counted 80 mounds in about 100sq/m lawn. Spreading on patio and edge of house. The garden has become unusable for children.

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