I recently bought a house in the northeast US and I've been trimming my cedar trees, but I've discovered that many of them are dead and completely lacking roots. They seem ready to topple over, and to make matters worse, I've found a ton of ants at the base of these trees. We've been seeing more ants than normal this spring, plus I found a board in my garage roof that was infested and had to replace it. I really need some advice on how I can possibly save the remaining trees while also reducing the ant population. I'd prefer not to resort to bug bombing my property. I've seen suggestions online about planting marigolds, mint, and rosemary – is there anything else I can do? And please, no suggestions about burning the house down, I really love it here!
3 Answers
I’ve had a lot of luck with Pestie for ant control on my property in Wyoming. It really helped cut down the ant population in my home to zero. Maybe give that a try?
If these are just regular ants, you might want to look into using beneficial nematodes. They target ant larvae and are harmless to beneficial insects. You’ll need to mix them with water and keep the soil moist for a few weeks, so make sure you pick the right type that attacks ants specifically. But watch out—if they’re carpenter ants, that’s a different story since they like to eat rotting wood and could spell trouble for your house. If that's the case, definitely consider calling an exterminator.
In California, we've had huge problems with Argentine ant colonies. They can damage plants by interfering with their roots and spread diseases. You might want to try putting out boric acid baits like Terro. The ants will take it back to their nest, and it should take down the whole colony!
I can’t believe ants can cause that much damage! I always thought termites were the main wood destroyers.