To eliminate ant hills, it’s best to eliminate the ants first. Don’t follow the temptation to blast ant hills away with a leaf blower. Using a leaf blower or removing them with a shovel simply spreads the hills to new locations.
Bait Permanently Removes Ant Hills
Baits are the most effective way to rid your yard of ant hills and keep them away. They are a type of ant killer that mimics food.
Scavenging ants will take the bait into the hill and feed them to the queen. Once the queen is killed, the hill will slowly die off. Baits work slower than other methods, but are a better long-term solution.
The best bait to get rid of ant hills combines an ant poison and growth regulator. Baits with growth regulators are safer for humans, animals and the environment. The best ant bait product is Extinguish Plus Fire Ant Bait. This bait will begin working to kill the hill in as little as a week.
Most lawn ant baits come in an easy to apply granule. Spread the granules over your yard, not just the hill itself. This increases the chance of foraging ants returning bait to the colony. Also, it prevents the ants in a poisoned hill from moving just a few feet away.
Regardless if you're treating an outbreak or using bait as a preventative, follow these important tips.
- Begin spreading baits when soil temperature is above 65℉.
- Focus spreading in the sunny areas of your yard as this is where ants and hills are most common.
- Do not spread if rain is expected the next day.
- Reapply bait to your yard based on the ant bait label.
- Do not use other control methods while baiting ants.
Flattening the Mount
After a couple of weeks, use a shovel to disturb the ant hill. If ants do not immediately flood to the surface, it’s safe to level it out. This can be done by packing it down with a shovel or raking the soil into areas around the old hill. Water the area frequently and grass should quickly recover the bare spot in your yard.
Things to Not Do To Remove Ant Hills
Suggested methods include home remedies like dousing the hill in boiling water or soapy water. Others recommend sprinkling the hill with toxic boric acid powder. While all of these might provide short term relief of ant hills, they fail to kill the queen. Not only can a queen quickly rebuild the colony in a couple of weeks, you might even encourage the colony to split or move into other areas of the yard.
