Letters To The Editor

Last week we presented some readers’ responses to pests in the gardens… the big ones. This week we’re offering their suggestions for ants! Read on for some ways you can and cannot get rid of them…

Dear Editor:

For the person with ants in the garden bed—we had ants in our house last year. What worked for us, rather slowly but worked, was boric acid. I even mixed it with honey so they would want to eat it. It eventually got rid of them.

Dear EC (and all our readers!):

The use of boric acid INSIDE the home to get rid of ants is perfectly fine. However, do NOT use boric acid in the garden directly on the plants. The boron in boric acid is a nutrient needed in very small quantities by plants, and even a little bit too much is toxic and will kill them. However, read on to see a solution to this…

The Editor

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Dear Editor:

To kill ants I use a mixture of the following :

1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey (mix and heat till dissolved). Add 1/4 cup borax to this and place some of the mixture on a small lid and place on ant hill. The ants will eat the mixture and take it back to the nest and kill the other ants.

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Dear Editor:

The best system I have come across for my organic home garden to get rid of ants are the bait stations and Gourmet Liquid Ant Bait. I tried everything else, but this stuff really works. I have 8 stations around the house and in the garden itself. The main thing is to keep them shaded. See their website at: www.kmantpro.com. I get my supplies from: www.epestsupply.com

I hope this helps anyone with the problem.

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Dear Editor:

I have just read in your news letter dated today (May 21^st) asking about ants. Killing them I don’t know, but years ago I read somewhere that coffee grounds keep them away from your home and garden and for me it works.

Come the start of March I take a 5 gallon pail to my local deli and ask them to put their grounds in it for me. I have known them the whole time they are open and are willing to give me their grounds of 2 or 3 days. You put them around the foundation of your house or your raised beds or edge of the garden and the ants don’t cross. Why, I don’t know, but for more than 10 years it has worked for me.

Thank you to all that took the time to write in! We appreciate you sharing your solutions with your fellow readers!

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