How Do I Get Rid Of Ants In Terrace?

Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:52 pm

Getting rid of ants on your terrace can be accomplished through a combination of preventive measures and targeted treatments. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to effectively eliminate ants from your terrace:

1. Identify the Ant Species:

• Determine the type of ants you’re dealing with, as different species may require slightly different control methods. Common terrace-invading ants include pavement ants, odorous house ants, and carpenter ants.

2. Maintain Cleanliness:

• Ants are often attracted to food sources. Keep your terrace clean by promptly removing food crumbs, spills, and any accessible food items. Store food in airtight containers.

3. Seal Entry Points:

• Identify and seal any cracks, gaps, or openings that ants can use to access your terrace. Use caulk, weatherstripping, or sealants to close off these entry points.

4. Trim Vegetation:

• Ensure that trees, shrubs, and plants near your terrace are pruned and do not touch or overhang it. Ants can use branches or plant material as bridges to access your terrace.

5. Remove Attractants:

• Ants are drawn to sugary substances, so keep any sweet substances, such as honey or sugary drinks, tightly sealed and away from the terrace.

6. Boric Acid and Sugar Bait:

• Create a homemade bait by mixing boric acid with powdered sugar. Place this mixture in shallow containers or bottle caps in ant-prone areas. The ants will be attracted to the sugar and ingest the boric acid, which is toxic to them.

7. Vinegar Solution:

• Mix equal parts of white vinegar and water and use it to wipe down surfaces and areas where ants are seen. Vinegar disrupts the chemical trails ants use to communicate with one another.

8. Diatomaceous Earth:

• Sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth in ant trails or near entry points. This substance damages ants’ exoskeletons and dehydrates them, eventually leading to their demise.

9. Commercial Ant Baits:

• If homemade baits do not yield satisfactory results, consider using commercial ant baits. These baits contain toxic substances that ants carry back to their colonies, effectively eliminating the entire colony.

10. Maintain Vigilance: – Continue to monitor your terrace for any signs of ant activity. Be patient, as it may take some time to completely eradicate the ant infestation.

11. Professional Pest Control: – If the ant infestation persists despite your efforts, or if you are dealing with a particularly aggressive or destructive species like carpenter ants, it may be wise to consult with a professional pest control service.

12. Regular Maintenance: – Once you have successfully eliminated the ants, continue practicing good hygiene and preventive measures to deter future infestations.

Keep in mind that patience and persistence are key when dealing with ants. Eradicating an ant infestation may take some time, but with consistent efforts, you can reclaim your terrace from these unwanted visitors.

Have you planned a garden party for the next sunny weekend? Then you are already looking forward to putting the cake on the table and enjoying the time together with friends. But it doesn’t take long before the ants discover the dessert and a long ant trail forms.

The ants are not only unappetizing, but annoying and can spoil the mood of the guests. Once the ants have picked up the trail, they are difficult to chase away. If you do not want this incident to happen again, then you need to permanently expel the ants from the terrace.

In this guide, you will learn how to effectively fight the ants on the terrace and prevent them from coming there again.

What damage do ants do on the terrace?

When talking about pests in the garden, ants often go under. The damage is hardly directly visible compared to aphids or voles. In comparison, the ant seems relatively harmless and may be a nuisance, but with the complex mounds of ants, they are also interesting animals. What is the actual danger of the ant on the terrace?

Electronic devices

In the garden and the terrace, nevertheless, the ants should not be. Because despite the inconspicuousness, ants pose a great danger. You might notice this in sensitive electronic devices. Although the ant is small, but certainly has a powerful biting tool. With some perseverance, it is able to damage cables so that the device is no longer functional. This is a danger especially for cables that run openly in the garden and, after being chewed on, can no longer withstand the next rain. The risk is relatively small, but once the ants have found their way into your home, they congregate there in large numbers. The sheer number of them puts electronic equipment at risk, which is why you should tackle patio ants early.

Damage to floor tiles

Ants have a reputation as hard workers. In the garden, the ants do not create large mounds, but are found in the tunnels in the soil. The distinctive tunnel system can cause soil slabs to lose stability. They are literally torn out of the ground and digging around leads to a health hazard. The floor slabs of your patio could begin to wobble and lead to a fall. A secure footing is especially important for older guests, so you should avoid such a tripping hazard at all costs.

Symbiosis with aphids

Ants form a remarkable symbiosis with aphids. The aphid secretes a sweet honeydew, which is valued by ants as a food source. In return, ants protect the aphids and bring them to safety in their own burrow. Due to this symbiosis, it is likely that along with the ants, aphids will soon be found on weaker plants in the terrace, attacking the leaves with their voracity. If the infestation is more severe, the plant will die and cannot be saved.

Unpleasant on the skin

Ants are not considered aggressive. When they leave their own nest, they are in search of a food source. Occasionally, ants stray onto humans. In the summer, when shorter clothing is worn, the ant may feel threatened and bite the skin. With a single ant, this may be barely noticeable. But a multitude of bites is clearly noticeable and ants can even carry germs. By no means are the ants on the terrace harmless and for good reasons control is advisable.

How do ants get onto the terrace?

Ant colonies are widespread in nature. Due to their strong community and industrious division of labor, they are considered robust against a wide range of environmental influences. Therefore, ants extensively populate the forest and have long found a new home in cities and their outskirts.

The reasons why the ant feels at home on your terrace are obvious. Often the terrace is located so that it is a relatively sunny place. This gives you beautiful summer evenings, but ants like it just as much. Because thanks to the warmer temperatures, the soil is relatively dry and sandy. Thus, ants find perfect conditions to settle in this soil.

Ants are also attracted by the sweet dishes and food scraps that are on the terrace. Once the scent is picked up, the ant trail is formed, so a large number of animals head towards the food source. Your cake or sweet drinks are not safe from the ants and you can hardly enjoy your stay on the terrace.

Often, the ants also get lost in the house and kitchen through open doors or tiny crevices. There they make themselves over the food and can even find a way into the refrigerator. Repel ants early to prevent them from settling in your home.

Effective methods to fight the ants

Ants are hardly perceived as a threat. But due to the characteristics presented here, it is advisable to fight the ants on the terrace. If you ignore the ants, they will multiply in numbers and become a greater and greater nuisance. In addition, the longer you ignore them, the more difficult it becomes to actually get rid of all the ants.

Below you will find a selection of effective methods to combat ants on the terrace.

Ant bait

The most effective method consists in placing ant baits. These are equipped with an ant poison, which has a delayed effect. The agent is harmless to humans, but leads to the death of ants within a short period of time.

The baits are mixed with an attractant, which specifically attracts the ants. The ants carry the poison into the burrow, from where it is ingested by all members of the colony. The baits do not have an immediate effect, but they ensure that the original ant colony is decimated and will not show up on the terrace again.

The bait boxes are easy to use and designed to prevent pets or small animals from getting at the contents. Since it may well take several days to drive the ants from the terrace, you should carry out this control method early and not just start on the day of the garden party.

As an alternative with immediate effect, you can also use a spray against ants. This works against the ants running around, but will not fight the nest. Therefore, it is only suitable for a short time to repel ants on the terrace.

Relocate ants

If you do not want to kill the ants, but just get rid of them from your terrace, there are much more animal-friendly methods. One option is to relocate the ant colony.

You can do this by offering the ants a more attractive place to build their nest. To do this, take a flower pot, equip them with some wood wool or other fibers and place it on the terrace with the opening facing the ground. To make the ants go into the flower pot voluntarily, you can put jam or other sweets into the flower pot.

Now you need some patience until the entire ant colony goes into the flower pot. It can take up to a week before you use a spade to pick up the pot, including the ant colony, and set it down far away. In this way, you have gently relocated the ants and the patio is safe again.

Intense odors

Ants feel disturbed by some smells and keep a greater distance. You can take advantage of this by using home remedies against the ants.

To do this, you can, for example, place a bowl of vinegar and lemon peel where the ants increase. The smell of vinegar is so intense that ants are intimidated by it and run away.

It is also possible to make your own slurry. For this you can combine different herbs and aromatic plants. Lavender, lemon herb and thyme are particularly suitable. Make the slurry and spray it on the areas you want to protect from the ants.

These natural home remedies may not be as effective as ant baits, but they are easy to make with little effort. Therefore, it is well worth a try to fight the ants in the garden in this way.

Tips to prevent the infestation of ants.

To avoid getting the rampant problems with ants on the terrace in the first place, you should implement precautionary measures. This will save you the hassle of fighting them later.

Cover food

Ants are mainly attracted to sweet foods. Therefore, do not leave the cake open on the table, but use suitable covers that will create an insurmountable barrier for the ant. As a result, individual specimens may stray onto the terrace, but they will not find a food source and will make their way back to the nest.

Keep garbage closed

Much the same as with food applies to garbage. Do not use open trash cans, only models that have lids. This makes the odor of the contents less intense and ants have a harder time reaching the contents. Food scraps should be disposed of promptly and not left in the garden. If you have built a compost, then this should be done as far away from the terrace as possible.

Change the substrate

Ants feel comfortable in a natural and dry soil. If you plan to remodel the garden anyway, then you could also think about using more gravel. Gravel does not provide a suitable base for ants, so they will look for another place. Rely on this modern substrate so that ants no longer pose a threat.

Enjoy the terrace ant-free

Do you like to spend time on the terrace and you feel disturbed by the ants, then you can follow the tips presented here to take action against the animals. It is advisable to lay out the terrace from the beginning so that ants or other pests do not feel comfortable there. If the ants have settled on the terrace, then the laying of ant bait is a good way to effectively combat the nest.