It’s nice to spend time on your patio when the sun is shining. Just being able to get outside and enjoy some fresh air can make you feel a lot better.
Enjoying your time outside is not going to be so simple when you have an ant problem, though. You might want to eat lunch on your patio with your friends, but it won’t be possible if ants are crawling all over you.
Sadly, many people struggle with ant infestations on their patios. These pests can be so annoying that they’ll make you want to avoid using the patio at all until you’re able to get rid of them.
Keep reading to learn about the best methods for getting rid of ants on your patio. You’ll have a better idea of what you should be doing so that you can enjoy your patio to the fullest.
Keep the Patio Area Clean
Ants are usually going to try to come near your patio for a reason. They’re likely looking for food, and this means that there might be something drawing them to the patio.
Many people eat lunch out on their patios when things are nice. You might wind up dropping some food or crumbs that will make the ants come around.
You could have other food items around that are drawing ants to the patio as well. For example, you could have bushes that are dropping berries or other plants that are producing things that ants will utilize as food.
If you take the time to clean the area up, then it’ll be less appealing to the ants. You should see fewer ants around the patio area if you keep things really clean, and it makes sense to pick up fallen berries and other plant debris.
Locate the Ant Nests
When you want to eliminate the ants, the first thing that you should try to do is locate the ants’ nest. They have to be coming from somewhere, and if you pay attention, the ants just might show you where the nest is located.
If you’re dealing with a really bad ant infestation, then it’s possible that there might be multiple ant nests to deal with. Sometimes there might be several anthills and you’ll need to take care of everything to truly be rid of the pesky ants.
Do your best to do some detective work and figure out where all of the nests are located. This will make it so that you can take action to free your patio.
Try not to rush the process since you might miss an ant nest if you’re going too fast. Take the time to really look and then determine how you want to do things once you’re sure that you’ve found all of the nests.
Chemical Ant Sprays
Chemical ant sprays will be the easiest thing that you can use to kill ants. These sprays can be purchased at department stores and you can also buy them online.
Once you know where the ants are going, you’re going to be able to follow them to the nest and spray things down. Try to get the nest as thoroughly as you can with the spray and you should be able to kill them.
There are more powerful chemical sprays that can be used as well. However, most people are simply going to use common chemical ant sprays that can be purchased at department stores.
Aside from spraying the anthills and nests, you’ll want to spray your patio area. If you use a high-quality ant spray, then it should help to keep ants away for quite some time.
Ant Bait Poison
Ant bait poison is another option that could help you to get rid of the ants for good. One good reason to consider using ant bait poison is that it’ll kill the whole ant colony.
Sprays will only kill the ants that have come into contact with the chemical. You can try to get the ant nest with a chemical spray as thoroughly as you can, but some ants will survive in the ground.
Ant bait poison works differently because ants will eat it and carry the bait back to the colony. It’ll wind up poisoning all of the ants and they’ll die.
You can ensure that you get the ant queen this way as well. Honestly, it’s a better idea than simply using chemical ant sprays to take care of the problem.
It’ll take more time for ant spray to do what it needs to do, though. You’ll need to lay the ant bait poison out and then wait for it to work.
Many people will use a combination of ant bait poison and chemical sprays. You can spray the patio to get rid of ants that are bothering you and use the bait to try to eliminate the entire colony over time.
Use Boiling Water
What if you don’t want to have to spend money on products to eliminate ants? Well, you do have some options that you could explore.
Boiling water is going to be able to get rid of anthills and kill many ants if you decide to use it. Simply boil some water and then carefully carry it out to the location of the anthill.
You’ll want to be wearing oven mitts so that you won’t burn yourself. It’s also best to wear pants and shoes in case you accidentally splash some water back at yourself.
Try to stand a bit back and then pour the boiling water down the anthill. You can use a pan to do this or you could use something such as a tea kettle.
A tea kettle would probably be easier to hold onto and pour without getting the water on yourself. Try to pour the water directly down the anthill if you can.
Experts also say that using liquid soap along with the boiling water can make it more effective. It makes it so that the ants can’t get away from the boiling water because it’ll also be a bit sticky.
Vinegar
If working with boiling water isn’t to your liking, then you might prefer to use vinegar. You could spray white vinegar down anthills to kill many ants if you don’t want to buy chemical sprays or ant bait.
It’ll certainly be a lot less expensive to use vinegar and water to create an ant-killing spray. However, it might not get rid of all of the ants.
The ant bait poison remains the best method for ensuring that you eliminate the entire colony. Even so, vinegar spray will be useful for repelling ants and killing ants that are bothering you on your patio.
Simply mix up a spray using one part vinegar and one part water. Add a bit of dish soap to the mix to make the spray sticky if you want things to be even more effective.
You can spray the patio area and other spots where ants seem to be congregating. It should work nicely and you probably already have vinegar in the house that you can utilize to do this.
Put Ant-Repelling Plants Near the Patio
Have you thought about trying to repel ants naturally? There are plants that can keep ants away from your house if you choose to plant them.
Putting plants right by your patio area should help to keep the ants at bay. Many of these plants are going to be very easy to take care of, too.
Peppermint plants are commonly used to help people with ant problems. The scent will be pleasant to humans, but it’ll be off-putting to many different pests.
You could choose to plant pennyroyal, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and lavender to try to drive ants away. Just choose a plant that’s appealing to you and you’ll be able to get good results.
This won’t kill the ants, but it will make them stay away from the patio. If you combine this option with keeping the patio clean, it should be easy enough to use your patio without having to be concerned about ants.
Call Exterminators to Get Help
The fastest way to solve an ant infestation is to call the exterminators. You’ll be able to get the ant problem solved in a timely fashion if you have the cash to spend.
This is the most expensive option that you could go for, though. You’ll be paying professionals to locate anthills and get rid of them permanently.
Pest control specialists understand how to get rid of ants the right way. They have the expertise to get the job done right and they also possess the necessary tools.
It might be a good idea to call exterminators if you’re dealing with particularly annoying ants. For example, fire ants bite people and they can be really nasty.
Letting the professionals take care of aggressive ants makes a lot of sense. However, it’s up to you to decide what the right option is for your home.
You know everything that you need to know about getting rid of ants now. Some might try to repel the ants while others will want to exterminate them.
There are good DIY solutions that you can try out, but it’s also very effective to buy products that are meant to kill ants. Use the information that you’ve been given to decide what’s best based on your budget.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and over 10 years of experience working in IT. As a homeowner, I love working on projects around the house, and as a father, I love investigating various ways to keep my family safe (whether or not this involves tech). I’ve also played guitar for almost 20 years and love writing music, although it’s hard to find the time these days.