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Ants & Ant Hills
Ants are beneficial to your garden. They de-compact and aerate the soil, aid decomposition and also kill pests.
Armies of Ants can be found in all lawns across the UK and in most cases they do little direct damage, but when there is an infestation problem can occur in our beloved lawns.
When large colonies of ants take up residence in our lawns the ant hills that can be left on the lawn are a burden to a lawn lover. Ants work like an army and are an intriguing insect but they can deposit appreciable amounts of soil on your lawn (a bit like mini molehills), which can then cause problems. They make the lawn uneven and can cause scalping when the grass is mown, resulting in the soil being smeared over the lawn. This problem is made even worse if the lawn is wet when mown, and these patches can become a breeding ground for weeds. In severe cases ant hills can cause bare patches all over the lawn where the roots of the grass have been damaged but the activity.
Lawns on sandy or chalky soils are often more affected by ants than lawns with heavier soil.
During cool winter months, anthills are not so much of a problem as ants are dormant and asleep in the nest. They tend to be most active April- October, leaving the nest in search of food once the weather warms up.
How can we control ants in our lawn?
Unless their nests are causing specific issues, they are best left alone. Even if you can destroy a colony, it is likely that it will quickly be re-colonised and the whole process will commence again.
There are some DIY products which might help control ants, such as ant powder. This can be applied by creating deep holes directly into the ants’ nest with a garden fork or spike. The holes can then be filled with the powder. For a biological approach, ‘Nemasys Nematode ant killer’ can be applied between April and October. There have been some reports of good results with these when used against ants.
Some people use boiling water to kill these ants, but this isn’t a good idea as can result in scorched patches of turf which are then vulnerable to being colonised by weeds. It’s better to water the ant hill regularly with cold water as this won’t kill the turf but will disturb the ants and encourage them to move on. In general, they prefer dry conditions, so a well-watered lawn may discourage them.
For the anthills themselves, wait for a dry day and scrape them off with a shovel, or brush them vigorously with a stiff broom to scatter the soil over the lawn and reseed any bare areas. The soil has been nicely tilled and aerated by the ants, so think of it as some free top dressing!
