6 methods to keep ants away from your garden and protect your plants
Ants are harmless insects but when they establish themselves in the garden, they can be quite intrusive and rapidly expand to other areas as well. They also tend to attract aphids, which are detrimental to plants. This is why, especially during the summer season, it is best to resort to some tips to keep them away, using natural remedies and DIY methods that are easy to put employ.
Among anti-ant allies, there are commonly used foods and products such as lemons, vinegar and a whole series of plants, (from basil to garlic, from mint to lavender), which ants do not like the smell of. You can place some of these substances in the spots in the garden most frequently colonized by ants - or use them to prepare solutions to spray directly on plants.
Lemon juice, diluted in a little water, prevents the movement of ants by disrupting their pheromone demarcated trails. The mixture is simply sprayed with a spay bottle on the plants you intend to protect. Alternatively, you can place a few slices of lemon in the corners visited by the ants.
Mint, basil, bay leaves, garlic, lavender - all these plants give off a scent that ants find very unpleasant. You can then use them to keep ants away from the garden by planting them in the areas most frequently colonized by them.
White vinegar is great for cleaning the house but also as a solution to keep ants away from the garden. Just fill a container with an equal amount of vinegar and water, pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray it directly on the plants you want to protect.
Not only a valuable ally for household cleaning, salt is also excellent to combat ants. Just pour it on the ground, in selected spots, to discourage these insects from setting up their colonies.
Here is another natural remedy widely used to keep ants away: cloves. You can place them in the garden in the places usually visited by these insects or use them to prepare a solution to spray on your plants. In this case, you just need to put 1 tablespoon in half of cloves in a liter of water, bring it to a boil, let it cool down and pour it into a spray bottle.
Finally, there is the use of coffee grounds, which are quite effective - although ants tend to get used to the smell over time. So we advise you to alternate this remedy use with others described above. You can simply place grounds near the plant pots or in the areas in the garden that you think are most at risk.
You just have to experiment with the methods we have described to you and find your favorite.
