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You are here: Home / General Gardening / Garden Pests / Natural Ways to Get Rid of Ants in Your Vegetable Garden

Natural Ways to Get Rid of Ants in Your Vegetable Garden

50 Comments

ants in garden on okra

So far, we’ve provided gardeners with humane tips to clear their vegetable gardens of unwanted rabbits, squirrels, and cats. Methods ranged from ultrasonic devices to physical barriers. However, ant infestations are a different beast of a problem. Common garden ants are too small to be restrained by fences and too numerous to be relocated, we’ll help you tackle your ant problem by providing non-toxic, natural methods used successfully by other gardeners.

If you can see the ant hills or ant mounds, pouring boiling water over them several days in a row is a great way to reduce or eliminate ant colonies or ant nests. If you can’t see their hills, read on. 

Cinnamon repels ants

Ground cinnamon

While not the cheapest method, sprinkling ground cinnamon along the perimeter of your garden (or any surface area, for that matter) will repel ants, but not kill them. Create a thick line that will force ants to climb over and watch both red ants and black garden ants refuse to do so. Cinnamon is one of the natural solutions that will also reduce the amount of ants in your compost pile if they are bothersome.

If you scout for deals, you can find 1-lb bulk bags that are inexpensive.

Diatomaceous earth is an excellent insect killer

Diatomaceous earth

Created from the crushed shells of fossilized diatoms to form a fine powder, this substance actually consists of incredibly sharp edges that will penetrate an ant’s body causing structural damage that leads to death by dehydration within two weeks.

Although incredibly lethal to insects, diatomaceous earth will not harm humans or family pets. Be sure to use 100% food grade diatomaceous earth in your vegetable garden. Prices are reasonable on Amazon.com, with a 5-lb bag at a low price.

Natural Ways to Get Rid of Ants

Mixture of cornmeal, borax, and honey

Cornmeal is an inexpensive method to reduce (read: not eliminate) these small insects, but will take some time to work. It’s also completely safe for your vegetable crops. You can make a homemade solution of cornmeal and borax (a household chemical compound found in toothpaste or soap) and you’ll see results much more quickly. Borax is extremely lethal to ants when ingested and also harms their outsides.

Add a touch of honey to mask the taste of borax and to attract ants, as they love sweet things. Place the mixture where there is a heavy concentration of ants: you can even leave it in the mixing bowl. Ideally, the sticky substance will be taken back to the ant colony by the worker ants and kill the queen as well as the entire colony.

You can find borax here, and cornmeal here.

Use beneficial nematodes

These worms can repel many garden pests including ants, beetles, moths, flies, and fleas. How can a worm do all of this? These microscopic, beneficial insects enter host bodies and excrete bacteria from their digestive tract that prove lethal within 24-48 hours.

However, nematodes can only be applied to garden soil that is between 42-90 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, you should make sure the air temperature is at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Beneficial nematodes can be purchased at nurseries or online. You can find them here.

All-natural ant repellant

Orange guard

If you can’t find the source of the colony, you can at least target the ants themselves. Orange Guard is a liquid spray that is a natural ant repellent with no toxic chemicals. It includes only natural ingredients (the main ingredient is orange peel extract, otherwise known as d-Limonene). This product is not harmful to garden soil or the surrounding environment and is EPA-registered. Since all ingredients are food grade, it also won’t damage your crops.

A majority of consumers attest that this product (32 oz) does what it claims, and is one of the most effective methods of dealing with an ant population. Of note, one customer warns that the essential orange oil in d-Limonene is not completely safe for cats, so bear this in mind if you decide to purchase.

Marigolds are said to repel many garden insects

Provide strategically placed trap or repellent crops

Scented marigolds typically repel ants, although some gardeners have actually experienced ant attraction. Either way, ants may leave your vegetable crops alone. Other plants that have been suggested to repel ants? Artemisia, catnip, pachypodiums, adeniums, optunias, chrysanthemums, garlic, spearmint/peppermint, and tansy. Plant these around or in your garden to help reduce crop destruction from ants.

Ants can be a nuisance in your vegetable garden

What methods do you use?

ants ground cinnamon with text overlay get rid of ants in the vegetable garden natural ways

Creative Commons Flickr photos courtesy of William Warby and OliBac.

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Filed Under: Garden Pests Tagged With: ants in garden, dealing with ants in the garden, get rid of ants, keep ants out of garden

Comments

  1. L.Dean says

    June 5, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    Cinnamon DOES NOT work! I’m not sure the Orange Guard would work because the ants are in my orange tree!

    Reply
  2. Darla says

    April 16, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    Diatomaceous earth doesn’t work, either. I hilled it around my hummer feeder poles, and the damned ants kept crawling up the posts.

    Reply
    • Alicia Williams says

      June 25, 2016 at 1:40 pm

      I have heard that if you slather your wire (that holds the feeder) with Vaseline, the ants will not get to it.

      Reply
      • Gtren says

        August 3, 2018 at 1:21 pm

        I had the D stuff put down over Vaseline. Gone in 24 hours. I was in tear I was so greatful. They were in the chick in coop. We had only had the chickens 3 weeks.

        Reply
      • Mary Roberts says

        May 18, 2019 at 3:04 pm

        The Vaseline doesn’t work either. In the end you have a pole that is sticky but doesn’t resist ants. I have taken a tomato cage and turned it upside down in my bird bath and attached the feeder to the prongs. This is the only way I can keep them out of the hummingbird feeder. They will not cross water to get to the cage.

        Reply
    • J says

      April 28, 2017 at 12:36 am

      DE only works for this purpose while it is dry…..and you have to be VERY careful NOT to inhale any of the dust….the dust will scratch up your lungs.

      Reply
    • Donna Hood says

      September 20, 2018 at 7:47 am

      Put dawn around your pole, or on your pole and the ants won’t cross it.

      Reply
      • John says

        May 6, 2020 at 6:10 am

        Wow! Where do I find Dawn?

        Reply
        • Barb says

          May 8, 2020 at 3:31 am

          Dawn dish detergent at your grocery or WalMart, Target, etc

          Reply
    • Mark says

      May 13, 2019 at 3:44 pm

      Look up how to make moats for your hummer feeders. They’re extremely easy and inexpensive to make and they work! Wish I could include a picture of ours to give you an idea.

      Reply
  3. Mary says

    April 18, 2015 at 9:59 am

    Last year little brown ants invaded my raised bed. The built mounds in the soil and around the beds. This happened shortly after I planted my direct soil seeds. I was nervous about anything as I was nervous about germination.

    Within a weeks I my beds were invaded and I felt I had no choice, but to apply cinnamon, diatomaceous earth into the mounds. They’d go away and pop up again a few inches away. I poured boiling water – they’d disperse and come back back. They were in between the wood in my beds. I made a mixture of honey and borax and they stayed away. Eventually I put out ant traps around the beds and that slowed them down. I had lemon gem marigolds in several places in my beds and they ignored them. They ignored the areas around my tomato plants, but loved my carrot squares and lettuce. They didn’t eat, they just hung out and disturbed the seeds. They were like little volcanoes.

    I guess this year I’ll try beneficial nematodes in my beds a few weeks before planting. I’ll be adding milk spores as well as last year, the beetles were flying out of soil in June every night around 7. I’d be out there squishing cabbage moths and beetles. My neighbors probably thought I was a lunatic.

    Reply
    • Christina says

      April 23, 2021 at 2:48 pm

      OMG, you spoke my life! You must live Texas! Lol! I swear I’m freaking out, dealing with the exact same issue. Those ants won’t go away. Thanks so much for that info about the borax and honey. I did read about that, but there’s so many other things too, like the cinnamon, powdered sugar and baking soda mix, etc. So I was going to try them all. Now I know what will work! Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Diane van der Zanden says

    April 18, 2015 at 11:05 am

    I’ve planted chives and onions around my fruit trees to keep the leaf cutter ants out and it has worked. I haven’t tried the method yet with the stinging red ants, but intend to do so. I have a worm farm that’s full of them and am waiting for the seeds to sprout so I can get them planted out.

    Reply
  5. Fran says

    May 23, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    Put uncooked grits on the ant beds and it will kill them.

    Reply
    • Lorely fritz says

      March 13, 2017 at 10:11 am

      What is grits, from Australia

      Reply
      • Teresa says

        May 2, 2017 at 12:08 pm

        It’s a hot vestal mix like oatmeal or cream of wheat.

        Reply
      • Charlotte says

        May 7, 2017 at 1:56 pm

        Cornmeal — just a coarser grind, like Polenta. In the American South it’s a common breakfast food.

        Reply
  6. kay says

    May 23, 2015 at 8:57 pm

    I planted marigold and they move just a bit. They have created more hills outside the garden like they are preparing for a ambush.

    Reply
  7. Pleun says

    April 20, 2016 at 4:44 am

    By far the best way to get rid of ants is used coffee grounds! It apparently burns on their feet and whenever I use it, they are definitely gone within days! And generally it’s good as mulch/compost in your garden!

    Reply
    • carmen says

      February 21, 2017 at 1:41 pm

      Any kind of coffee grounds?

      Reply
      • dugong says

        March 13, 2017 at 9:20 pm

        I also had success with coffee grounds and as pluen says, coffee grounds are also great for your compost

        Reply
    • Brenda Williams says

      July 5, 2018 at 10:58 am

      How do you apply the coffee beans to potato plants as I have ants on them

      Reply
    • Kate says

      August 26, 2022 at 10:29 am

      Coffee grounds worked for me too, but you have to continually apply it. Mostly I used actual ground coffee whenever we had some that had gone flat or expired. The only risk is altering the ph of your garden soil, if you apply too close to your plants. I scattered the grounds around my raised beds, but not inside the soil. Got rid of fire ants for good – along with a few dumps of boiling water. But now I have tiny little ants that I cannot pinpoint where they’re coming from. I scattered some whole coffee beans and did not have any response so definitely use ground coffee.

      Reply
  8. Kelly says

    March 13, 2017 at 8:21 am

    Borax and honey!!!!! Works within hours and they stay for months. I’ll never use anything else. I keep a large baby food jar of it mixed up and when I see them, I put a tablespoon on a paper plate and within minutes the ants are swarmed to it. Cut the sides off of the plate, it makes it easier for them to get to the mixture. The next day, not one ant to be found!!!!!

    Reply
    • Myrna Smith says

      July 11, 2018 at 1:05 pm

      I did this and a rainstorm came up and poured rain. The borax mixture washed into the ground and killed the pepper plants! The ants are still there.

      Reply
    • Kim Alexander says

      July 12, 2024 at 11:45 am

      I put the borax and honey in several baby food-type jars of which I have punched several holes in the jar lids. This keeps out most of the rain, and I place the ant trap jars throughout my garden. The ants go in the jars through the holes..eat the borax and honey, and usually do not find their way out again, although if they do, they carry the borax back to their colony, which kills more ants.

      Reply
  9. Charry says

    September 24, 2017 at 5:06 pm

    Sprinkling cream of wheat works too. Let ants eat it.. they explode.

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      May 14, 2022 at 7:53 pm

      Does this really work for ants and how do you apply to your garden

      Reply
  10. Bonnie says

    September 24, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    Mashed potato flakes. Harmless for other animals, but reacts with the formic acid in their stomachs and kills the ants.

    Reply
  11. John O'Grady says

    February 2, 2018 at 1:04 am

    Is it safe to use Borax around pets as i have 2 nosy dogs

    Reply
  12. Ry says

    June 11, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    Why does cornmeal kill ants?

    Reply
    • LB says

      June 24, 2018 at 9:58 am

      This works because ants are attracted to corn meal and treat it as food, but they can’t actually digest it, causing them to slowly starve. It won’t kill a colony as quickly as poison, but it’s incredibly cheap, and completely safe to use in a house with pets or small children.

      Reply
  13. Luna says

    June 22, 2018 at 10:59 am

    I just pulled up my potatoes to find a bunch of holes drilled into them by ants today i grieve tomorrow they pay
    thx for the tips

    Reply
  14. Del says

    October 12, 2018 at 11:46 pm

    I don’t want to use anything toxic for me or my veggie plants to get rid of ants. Do I spray the top of soil or do I turn soil and place whatever I end up using to get rid of the colony of ants? They are Fire Ants.

    Reply
    • julie says

      January 6, 2020 at 12:46 pm

      Did you get any help with this? I also have fire ants in my garden and nothing has convinced them to move on. I need something that will not harm the plants, me or the outdoor cats.

      Reply
    • ROYY says

      April 22, 2020 at 5:56 am

      FIRE ANTS….2 OZ OF ORANGE OIL TO GAL OF WATER…….WARM DAY ABOUT 10AM WHEN ANTS ARE ACTIVE…..DRENCH MOUND…WILL KILL QUEEN …NO MORE FIRE ANTS…DO EACH MOUND THAT WAY….

      Reply
  15. Evelyn Bumbaugh says

    March 26, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    I have all the same problems as all these folks , I’m staying Applecider vinegar on and around the vegetables , the ants run , come back , they have ruined my potatoes , corn , red leaf , spring onions. I’m so frustrated.

    Reply
  16. LYNNE RAGSDALE says

    March 31, 2020 at 6:48 pm

    I use Vicks vapor rub around the pole that holds my hummingbird feeder..works great

    Reply
  17. Dolores Byrd says

    April 13, 2020 at 2:08 pm

    Boiling water and vinegar ‘chases’ them within 24 to 48 hours but they will ‘pop up’ somewhere else. Sevin works too but as w/vinegar the ants will just move. Some suggest ‘putting ants from one mound into another’ because they fight until the mound dies, haven’t tried that though.

    Reply
    • Ange says

      March 28, 2021 at 6:05 pm

      It works!! I’ve done that.

      Reply
  18. Harry K says

    June 5, 2020 at 11:40 am

    It appears the ants may be eating the wood from the raised bed box, as I looks like sawdust in the area where they are. They’re very small ants, and don’t look like termites. Anyone else experience this?

    Reply
    • Barbara says

      August 17, 2022 at 1:37 pm

      Yes!

      Reply
  19. Angela New Mexico says

    July 18, 2020 at 9:27 am

    Hi everyone . I too am frustrated. I have an incredible amount of ants attacking my okra and also on my pepper plants. Thanks for the tips . I guess I’ll start with the cinnamon and cream of wheat which I have .Do you put it around the plants oat base?

    Reply
  20. Rashmi says

    September 9, 2020 at 5:18 am

    The ants have invaded my cucumber plants and I tried the cinnamon spritz 3 times a week and it has not deterred them at all.

    I tried neem oil with baking soda as that would have taken care of the aphids too but nothing worked !

    Now 2 plants are dead and I am still researching to save the other plants using organic method. Also I dont wanna kill the ants.I just want them to go.

    Reply
  21. Darlin D. Aviles says

    September 15, 2020 at 3:52 am

    I did not realize vacuum cleaners could help. This article is really helpful. Thank you!

    Reply
  22. Cat says

    October 9, 2020 at 3:40 pm

    I’ve used dry yeast. The ants take it back the the queen and she will die when ingested.

    Reply
  23. Dr. Evil says

    May 3, 2021 at 12:27 pm

    A sunny day and a magnifying glass is very satisfying, especially when there aren’t any flies to pull the wings from.

    Reply
    • Snow says

      May 29, 2021 at 10:45 am

      This is the best solution!! I’ll get my kids started right away!

      Reply
    • Sheila says

      May 7, 2022 at 12:43 pm

      I love this!

      Reply
  24. Linda Henderson says

    May 7, 2023 at 2:47 pm

    The ants are eating the wood of my raised vegetable beds, which is causing the wood to crumble.
    What can I do??
    Please hejp!!!!

    Reply

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