Most summer residents think garden ants almost the most terrible evil and disaster in their area, and the fight against them becomes one of their top priorities. This is largely true. Ant populations can cause enormous damage. And it’s not for nothing that gardeners who have this problem are actively looking for recipes for fighting garden ants using folk remedies, as they are the safest for both plants and humans. It should not be forgotten that the harm and benefits from these insects are comparable. They help maintain soil structure, eat pests that destroy garden plantings, and thereby maintain balance in the ecological system. Therefore, keeping them on the site in reasonable quantities will only bring benefits.
If you want your garden to be decorated with lush flowering vegetation, and your vegetable garden to bring good harvest, fighting ants on garden plot becomes a necessity.
They try not to avoid these six-legged sweet tooths and berries: currants, strawberries, gooseberries. Whenever given the opportunity, they eat ripe fruits, which clearly does not add to their love from gardeners. Not the best best neighbors ants also for newly planted seedlings: they gnaw at young succulent stems and roots.
Any gardener knows firsthand the damage ants cause to flower beds and lawns. The vigorous activity of six-legged animals often nullifies all the efforts of summer residents to improve the area. In this sense, these insects work like moles, even on a larger scale and at the same time contribute to dispersal throughout the territory weeds, depleting the soil and spoiling appearance lawns.
It is necessary to begin the fight against garden ants if their number has outgrown reasonable limits and it has become obvious that the harm from them is more significant than the benefit from them.
What to choose: chemistry or folk remedies?
When embarking on the warpath for the harvest, first of all, decide how you will fight garden ants: with the help of poisonous chemicals or improvised home remedies. It would seem, why study folk recipes, waste time making formulations based on them, when you can simply buy ready-made “weapons” in any specialized store and not bother too much. But the opinions of experts on this issue are contradictory.
Basically, all chemicals against garden pests are very poisonous. And although manufacturers of toxic substances are trying to reduce the level of their toxicity, the danger still remains, especially for children, pregnant women, the elderly and allergy sufferers. Of course, we need to remember about our smaller brothers - pets. By inhaling or licking the poison, they can get best case scenario health complications. Another way chemicals are harmful: if used carelessly, they can seriously poison the soil.
However, professionals, in their recommendations on how to get rid of aphids and their “hosts,” do not advise completely neglecting specialized insecticides. In comparison with folk remedies, specialists are considered to be more effective drugs and are advised to use both methods, of course strictly following the instructions for use and safety.
Popular Home Methods
There are a lot of folk remedies for garden ants in the garden, and it is not at all necessary to go to the store for them. Almost every home has at least one of them. Let's consider only the most accessible and proven ones:
- Given the love of insects for sweets, you need to place bait for garden ants on the site: several jars of jam, honey, or just sugar water. Ants will climb there to eat, and the owner will only need to periodically rinse the jars with boiling water, killing the arthropods.
- Regular baking soda It helps against ants as effectively as poison. All anthills found on the site are thickly sprinkled with it. Insects will quickly leave the now unsuitable housing.
- You can speed up the procedure if you mix baking soda and powdered sugar in equal proportions and also sprinkle on the anthill. Six-legged sweet tooths will pounce on such a delicacy, not suspecting that it is fatal to them.
- Soda against garden pests can also be used in solution. In one and a half liter plastic bottle pour two tbsp. l. soda, add water and mix well by shaking. The solution is poured onto the anthill, sprinkled with dry soil and covered with polyethylene to block the access of oxygen inside.
- Another very simple one, but effective way how to remove garden ants traditional methods- watering the anthill to the very bottom with boiling water, warm lime, or livestock urine.
- It is known that some products, for example, semolina, corn flour, and millet also help against ants. Insects not only eat them themselves, but also carry them to the nursery to feed their fellows. Once in the stomach, the grains swell, and insects that are unable to digest them die. Depending on the size, semolina or millet from 2 to 3 kg is poured onto the anthill.
- As in the case of soda, to speed up the process, cereals, flour or semolina from pests are mixed with sugar. For one serving of sugar, take 3-4 servings of other products.
- Yeast has the same effect. A small amount of yeast is diluted in warm water with the addition of honey, jam or just sugar. Saucers with the drug can be placed near the anthill.
- Ammonia against garden pests they are also used very often. It is especially convenient when you need to eliminate the entire anthill. Before removing the ant “capital”, the place where it is located needs to be dug deep. During the digging process, add ammonia diluted in water to the ground at the rate of 1 part alcohol per 100 parts water, as well as ash or lime. This solution will seem like fertilizer to the trees, and the ants will die or leave.
- Almost all strong pungent odors help get rid of garden ants in for a long time: spirit smoked fish, herring stench, odorous aroma vegetable oil, freshly ground cinnamon. Arthropods cannot tolerate these aromas so much that as soon as they smell them, they leave their old homes and never return to them.
- Sheepskin treated with carbolic acid will also help to expel ants from their place. At a height of about 20 centimeters from the ground garden tree wrapped in wide strips of chopped fur with the wool facing out. The strong smell of carbolic acid will deter pests.
- In old pre-revolutionary newspapers, they often published extremely simple advice on how to remove garden ants using folk tricks. It was recommended to mix soot with ash, cover the ground with insects with this layer, then pour it all generously with a strong solution of salt water. It was believed that ants in these areas of the garden could be forgotten for several years.
It is better to carry out actions with an anthill in the evening, when all the insects have returned to their home.
Plants are the enemies of garden ants
You can get rid of ants in your garden using traditional methods and by cultivating certain plants. Such methods of pest control are good because they are absolutely safe, and green spaces will not only protect the garden from pests around the clock, but also decorate it. Moreover, we already grow and eat some of them everywhere. The main thing is to know which plants ants do not like and try to plant them in the most vulnerable areas of the garden.
Even the smell of some green crops has a panic effect on ants. For example, it has long been known that aphids and ants are never found in tomato and garlic beds. Experienced gardeners, who are well versed in what garden ants are afraid of, wrap tree trunks with tomato tops. Approximately the same effect is obtained from rubbing garlic arrows on wood. They can also be tied around a tree. The ants will quickly leave and never return.
Tansy is an excellent natural remedy for annoying ants. Black ants cannot stand odors herbs. Parsley, anise, laurel, tobacco, valerian, mint, tansy (pictured above), mustard, celandine - all these herbs repel insects. They can be sown in different places in the garden and thereby protect plantings susceptible to pest invasion.
If there is a lot of grass, you can spread it, like tomato tops, on the paths. In addition, you can make decoctions from these plants and spray them on the places where insects are most concentrated. And the stronger the concentration of the decoction, the higher the effect of use.
Preparing a herbal decoction is easy. A kilogram of fresh or dry grass is poured with boiling water and left to settle for 2-3 days. dark place. Then, the resulting substance is filtered and boiled. When the concentrate boils, it is diluted with 10 liters of water, brought to a boil again and cooled. After this, you can start spraying.
The presence of garlic and parsley on the site makes the life of ants unbearable, and their benefits are double. By planting these unpretentious crops, we not only find an effective, affordable and easy way to deal with garden ants, but we also always have aromatic, full of vitamins, fresh greens for dinner.
Boric acid for ants
Boric (or orthoboric, H3BO3) acid is colorless and odorless crystalline flakes. It dissolves completely in water and is widely used in gardening not only as mineral fertilizer and a seed growth stimulator, but has also become a real salvation in the fight against ants, since it is a deadly poison for arthropods.
Boric acid against garden ants is one of the most effective means. Its disinfectant and antibacterial properties make it possible to quickly and effectively destroy entire ant populations, and at the same time rid the beds of woodlice.
Since this substance only has a positive effect on the plants themselves, the easiest way to rid the crop of pests is to treat the places where they live with a weak solution of H3BO3 or make an edible bait from this chemical.
How to prepare an aqueous solution of boric acid
Using boric acid against garden ants in a solution is easy. The main problem in how to get rid of pests with its help lies in its preparation, since crystalline flakes do not dissolve well in water, and the solution should ideally be absolutely transparent and without sediment. In fact, the process of dissolving BC is quite simple and fast. The main thing is to know a few little tricks:
- pour 1 glass into a small container hot water and dissolve 5 g of boron powder in it;
- add 2 tbsp to water. l. honey or sugar;
- The volume of liquid in the container is adjusted to 0.5 l.
You need to water the anthill with sweet poisonous water. They do this late in the evening or at night, when the ants converge on their “home”. For greater effect, a little liquid is poured into flat containers and placed on ant paths.
How to prepare food for ants with boric acid
By her own boric acid will not work against garden ants. Since it has no color, taste or smell, it will not interest insects. Therefore, it is added to “ant” food.
Let's look at folk recipes that will help you get rid of six-legged pests for a long time using boric acid:
- Mix minced meat (4 tbsp), boric acid (10 g) and a small amount of salt thoroughly. Divide the mass into small pieces and place them near the anthill. For ants, meat is a delicacy. They will definitely eat it or drag it into the anthill to feed their relatives.
- Prepare a puree from three boiled potatoes and three egg yolks, into which pour 10 g of boric acid and a teaspoon of granulated sugar. Mix the mixture thoroughly, roll into balls and place them in the anthill.
- In a glass with hot water dilute any jam (1 tbsp) and boric acid (10 g). The sweet mixture is cooled and poured into shallow bowls placed in places where ants are most concentrated. You can do without water: 3 tbsp. l. mix very thick jam with 10 g of BC, and spread this sweet mixture near the ant trails and around the anthill.
It makes no sense to increase the concentration of H3BO3 in baits. The specified amount of garden ant repellent is enough for the insect to die almost instantly.
Boric acid against insects will work effectively in any case, no matter which recipe from the above you choose. When it enters the body, it causes paralysis in the ant, which leads to its death. Its effect is enhanced by the fact that members of the colony most often eat the poisoned insect and also die. But you need to remember that chemicals are used in the manufacture of soft, liquid and sticky baits.
When killing ants with boric acid, do not harm the health of humans and pets, and wear gloves when working with it.
Methods for using boric acid against ants in the garden are also suitable for getting rid of house ants, centipedes and cockroaches.
Another recipe for ants in this video:
So, based on the above information, it is clear that the old methods of fighting ants continue to work as effectively as before, which will undoubtedly help gardeners rid their area of harmful insects.
,Insects on the lawn (wireworms, ants, flies, etc.) are a serious problem, and if they have already appeared there in large numbers and multiplied, it is not so easy to overcome them. Another question is that they do not appear on grass very often. This is also facilitated by the climatic conditions of the country, because the lawn survives cold winters well if properly prepared, but the insect larvae in it, not so much, they freeze and die.
Prevention of insects
As is the case with various diseases, the appearance weeds and other foreign objects on lawns, The best way resisting insects is correct. This primarily applies to regular mowing, because, for example, such common insects as the Swedish fly or the meadow moth lay their eggs precisely on the upper part of the lawn, which is exposed. Otherwise, they have virtually no effect on the grass and can only be a little annoying with their presence.
Insecticide treatment
Not everyone effective drugs against insects are available in open sale and are available to ordinary summer residents. Of the available insecticides, Bazudin and Barguzin are considered effective, but treatment with them will cost a pretty penny, so you should resort to it only in extreme cases, when there are really a lot of pests in some area of the lawn and they cause noticeable harm to it. All kinds of bacterial preparations, in particular Lepidocide, are more affordable, but much less effective. Similar means can be used for prevention.
Lepidocide
Selection of herbs
A fundamentally different solution in the fight against insects is to plant varieties of grass that are specially bred to be resistant to pests, for example, containing various toxins in their cells. Of course, such a grass mixture will not be cheap, but the problem will be solved once and for all.
We deal with the most common pests
How to get rid of wireworm
The fight against wireworms (the larvae of the click beetle), which gnaw out the seeds and roots of plants in the ground, is quite simple - it is recommended to do it in spring or autumn, when the wireworm larvae are deep in the soil, remove the mown grass in a timely manner, treat the seeds before sowing, and plow the soil deeply.
Ants on the lawn
The easiest way to prevent these annoying, biting, aphid-spreading insects from spreading throughout your area is to destroy the anthills, making sure to destroy the egg clutch and the queen. But this is not always enough.
Targeted insecticides (for example, Anteater) and methods such as watering the anthill with boiling water, urea, and scattering sprigs of aromatic herbs like tansy near their habitats will also help get rid of ants on the lawn.
Six-legged workers hunt caterpillars, beetle larvae, breed aphids, and build reliable domed nests and underground passages. Uninvited neighbors bother the owners of the property, which is why many are interested in how to get rid of ants in the garden, lawn and garden. Hardworking insects often switch to feeding on berries and fruits and get into houses.
Species belonging to the family Ants (Formicidae) are social insects that form families numbering millions of individuals. Wingless workers keep the nest clean and care for the larvae and females.
Ants destroy caterpillars, butterflies, spiders, and can feed on the corpses of insects to obtain protein. "Menu" big family complemented by sweet secretions of aphids, honey, juice of berries and fruits, seeds. Proboscis insect pests multiply en masse in gardens, orchards, and fields. Ants flock to these areas and find a rich source of carbohydrates.
Home gardens attract six-legged builders with ample food and soft, cultivated soil.
Suitable conditions for building a nest and ample opportunities for obtaining food are not the only reasons for the appearance of garden black and yellow earthen ants in vegetable gardens and orchards. This is a forced resettlement due to the destruction of natural habitats during land plowing and construction.
What harm do insects cause?
Aphids and scale insects suck juices from young shoots, buds, leaves, which cause great harm agriculture and homestead farming, floriculture. Ants treat some representatives of proboscis insects as their pets: they graze, protect them from enemies, carry them to fresh shoots, and often leave them to overwinter in their nests. Symbiosis with aphids helps the ants survive, but increases the hostility of site owners towards them.
Dome houses can last for decades. Over the years, the workers build their nests upward and dig tunnels deeper and wider. Ant heaps look harmonious in the forest and meadow, but become a big nuisance in the garden. Even more inconvenience to people is the invasion of houses by small builders.
Winged males and females of black garden ants appear on terraces, climb into homes, gazebos and any other corners. Insects are attracted to the smells of juicy fruits and other foods. Pharaoh ants that live in houses spoil food and annoy people with their other habits.
Choosing a means to combat ants
Gentle and more radical methods of getting rid of insects in the garden are used.
- Black garden ants and related species are repelled using insecticidal plants. They destroy the nest and its inhabitants with hot water.
- Indoors, mainly insecticidal plants and baits are used. Chalk "Mashenka" helps remove ants from houses. Sticky tapes are hung during the breeding season to destroy winged females and males.
How to get rid of garden ants in the garden forever
Extended passages and tunnels underground are almost impossible to remove. It is easier to destroy an anthill, then its inhabitants will leave in search of a new habitat. Various physical methods of destruction are used, as well as insecticides containing diazinon.
Folk remedies for getting rid of insects
Substances in insecticides that are toxic to insects can be dangerous for site owners and beneficial fauna. Poisons pollute environment, penetrate into soil, water and plants. Folk remedies in most cases safer for nature and people compared to pesticides.
Ants and many other insects have an excellent sense of smell. The most natural method of getting rid of six-legged creatures is to plant insecticidal plants near the nest. Strong aromas prevent insects from looking for food and their way home.
Folk remedies for killing ants and repelling methods:
- Laying out fresh and dried insecticidal plants around the nest - tansy, lavender, wormwood, Dalmatian chamomile (pyrethrum).
- Sprinkling the dome and insect trails with lemon peel and cinnamon powder.
- Pour a mixture of equal parts of vegetable oil, inexpensive shampoo and table vinegar into the anthill.
- Spraying the nest and paths with vinegar essence.
- Laying out poisoned baits.
Substances dangerous to ants are boric acid, baking soda, yeast. The bait is prepared from 1 glass of honey, the same volume of water, 30 g of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), 1 tsp. dining room or apple cider vinegar. After mixing the ingredients, a paste is obtained, which should be applied to paths and places where ants accumulate. The sweet taste attracts insects, they eat the bait.
Another folk way- use of borax instead of sodium bicarbonate. The bait should be replaced weekly until the ants are completely free. A variation of this recipe is a mixture of sugar, honey, borax and water in a ratio of 4:1:0.5:4.5.
Ants do not tolerate alkaline substances. You can mix chalk, lime or soda with powdered sugar. The bait should be placed along the ant path. Mostly workers die from chemical burns from soda or borax.
Chemical control methods
Pesticides are powerful drugs and their use is justified if other methods fail. Diazinon, a chemical remedy for ants in the garden, is used against uninvited six-legged neighbors. An intestinal and contact insecticide causes paralysis of insects. It is necessary for the organophosphorus compound to penetrate through the integument of the ants’ body into the digestive tract.
List of granular pesticides containing diazinon for farmsteads:
- "Terradox."
- "Ant."
- "Barguzin".
- "Thunder-2".
- "Initiative".
Pesticides from the list are used in vegetable gardens, orchards, greenhouses and greenhouses. To combat house and black garden ants indoors, it is better to use concentrated insecticidal gels “FAS” and “Kapkan-Sturm”.
It is recommended to remove upper layer soil before treating the anthill with granular pesticides. Then you should evenly distribute 1 - 3 g of the drug on the surface (from 1/10 to 1/3 of a 10 g sachet). The remaining granules are scattered in places where insects move and gather. Spread the soil on top in a thin layer.
The insecticide is applied in places where ants accumulate in the beds after sowing seeds, planting seedlings, and later during the growing season of plants.
Diazinon emulsion contains the following preparations:
- "Ant-eater".
- "Muracid".
The liquid form of the enteric insecticide works exactly the same as the granules. A 1 ml ampoule is enough to treat several anthills.
How to fight ants using Anteater solution:
- Dig up the soil around the anthill to reach the clutches of eggs and chambers with larvae.
- The emulsion is diluted in water according to the instructions.
- Water the anthill and the soil around the nest with a pesticide solution.
- Sprinkle earth on top.
The advantage of diazinon is its ability to destroy adult ants and larvae. After processing the nest, workers are not able to obtain food, rebuild the nest, or care for females and eggs. Diazinon does not harm microflora and earthworms in the soil, as it does not accumulate (destroy). Granular release form the more convenient it is that there is no need to dilute the drug with water. The emulsion penetrates more easily through the insect's body.
Garden ants will disappear from the area a few days after treatment - permanently or temporarily. Six-legged workers may return after the pesticide wears off after 3 weeks or 2 to 3 months.
Mechanical methods
You can use the most gentle control method - move the anthill to the forest or park. Relocation is carried out using a container or large flower pot filled with straw and loose soil. The container is placed on an old ant heap. After some time the insects go into new house. After this, you can use a shovel to lift the pot, place it in a plastic bag and move it to another place at a distance of at least 30 m from the old nest.
Sticky trapping belts help save trees from being carried by aphids by ants. Insects stick to the Velcro, cannot free themselves and die. The glue for such traps is prepared from non-toxic substances that do not harm plants or people. The belt is placed at a height of 60–80 cm from the ground surface and is not removed from March to October. Kits are available for 5 – 6 trees. Belt length 3.5 m, width 14 cm.
Only by destroying the nest and a large number of workers can we get rid of the ants forever.
Methods of physical extermination:
- Pouring boiling water or a hot decoction of tomato tops into the anthill.
- Using kerosene instead of boiling water.
- Burning the inside of the nest with fire coals from a fire.
Boiling water or hot broth is poured into the anthill several times until the entire colony dies.
Preventing the appearance of ants in the garden
Insects are the champions of the animal world in adapting to changing conditions. In addition, getting rid of ants in the garden, in the garden, in the house makes it difficult for large families. Six-legged neighbors can live in the same nest for decades.
During the breeding season, winged females and males appear. They come to the surface to mate once or more times a year. Fertilized females build new nests near the mother's dome or go in search of another place. Initially, there may be only one anthill in the garden or garden, but after a year new families appear.
Excessive spread of insects on the site can be prevented by timely harvesting of ripened fruits and collection of carrion. It is necessary to destroy the food supply for ant larvae - aphids and scale insects, and to prevent plant contamination by pests and diseases.
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Ants, in fact, belong to quite important components of the natural garden, since they are able to move and aerate large quantity soil than earthworms, help control pests and, as a rule, are often indispensable during the spread herbaceous plants. But when they constantly tear up the lawns in the garden so much that it is impossible to find a place where they could sit, their love for some of the inhabitants of nature becomes less. The time has come to start fighting the scurrying insects.
Ominous statistics
We must always remember that three quarters of all ant species are listed in the Red Book as insect species that are at risk of extinction in Germany. As the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU) explains, of the 108 species of ants currently found in natural environment habitats in Germany, 11 species are threatened with extinction, 17 species are highly endangered, 31 species are threatened with extinction, and 7 species are already extremely rare. And about a dozen species of these insects are on the warning list. Species that are globally threatened include the red wood ant, Formica polyctena and Formica rufa. These types of insects are in danger primarily due to the loss of their natural environment a habitat.
Do they help or hinder?
Since many ant species are heat-loving insects, they are often found in open, extensively cultivated lawns. But, as we mentioned at the beginning, ants bring many benefits to the garden, at times they can take care of the garden. Many species of ants “herd” and contain aphids by eating the sweet honeydew that they secrete. However, gardeners do not really like this type of cooperation, because aphids cause significant damage to plants. In rare cases, it is possible that so-called lawn ants cause direct damage to lawns by partially eating away grass plants. It is not pleasant and does not bring any joy if colonies of ants build nests in lawns, thereby causing damage to the landscaped area with lawn coverage.
Ant control products
IN natural garden the use of chemical poisons is a taboo. There are a number of natural methods to control ants. For example, you can try to “relocate” a swarming colony. To do this, fill flower pots wet straw or wood shavings and cover a colony of ants with this “nest”. When, after some time, the entire population of the colony, including the queen and young animals, move to a warm clay pot, it can be moved to another, more appropriate place. In order to anger the ants, you can use biological methods. For example, wormwood. 300 grams of fresh or 30 grams of dried herb are added to 10 liters of water and all this is left for about two weeks to ferment. Then this infused liquid is poured into the ants' house. Also, all ants should run away if they are poured with a tincture of aromatic plants such as marjoram, thyme or lavender. Ant paths or nests can be sprinkled with seaweed limestone, baking powder or old coffee grounds. The Bavarian State Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture recommends that if there are too many ants in your lawn, you should regularly destroy their nests. In order to encourage ants to migrate, it is necessary to use targeted watering of their nests.
A beautiful green lawn is very attractive to pests. Thanks to watering and courtship, excellent conditions for reproduction are created here. Moist soil, young roots, fresh shoots - all this is not only a habitat, but also a source of food for harmful insects and their larvae.
The main measures for treating and protecting garden plants from pests are applied in the spring. The lawn is no exception. Spring is the breeding season not only for animals and birds, but also for insects. Eggs of beetles and butterflies laid in nutritious soil develop quickly. Therefore, the main goal is to apply the treatment in the spring, preventing unwanted insects and pests from appearing on the lawn.
Insects that harm the lawn are divided into two groups: surface insects that feed on greenery, and those that live in the soil. Accordingly, they apply various methods pest control. Disturbance of the grass on the lawn indicates a disease or the presence of unwanted animals.
There are many chemicals and products available on the market to eliminate pest problems. It is best to avoid using pesticides if possible, as they soak into the soil and then begin to evaporate within a few days. There is no need to explain that breathing such air is not the most beneficial activity.
One of the most common pests. Leads an underground lifestyle. Length adult 6 - 9 cm. The front pair of mole cricket legs is an excellent tool for digging up soil. The appearance of the mole rat is complemented by a powerful chest shell. The mole cricket's abdomen is soft and fusiform. The color is brown, the abdomen is yellowish on the underside. The favorite habitats of mole crickets are the banks of reservoirs and frequently watered beds.
The mole cricket feeds on almost everything that comes in its way: earthworms, vegetable roots, insect larvae, young plant roots. It breeds several generations per season. Many people mistake cockchafer larvae for mole cricket larvae. That's two different pest. The mole cricket lays eggs; if you dig up the nest after development, you can find many young individuals 1 cm long. At this age, they already begin to move in search of food, digging up the lawn up and down.
You can find out about the presence of a pest on the site by characteristic passages in the upper layers of the soil. On warm summer nights, during the breeding season, the mole cricket makes sounds reminiscent of the chirping of a cricket. Hedgehogs and moles are excellent mole cricket hunters.
There are two ways to combat this pest: poison the top layer of soil with chemicals (or put a special poison in the tunnels) and install mechanical or electrical repellers. A mole repeller that produces noise and vibrations is also an irritant for mole crickets.
May beetle larvae
They are not found very often on lawns, but when multiplied en masse, they can cause significant harm. Female chafers lay eggs in nutrient-rich soil, where large larvae hatch white with a yellow head. The larvae feed on young roots of lawn grass. If there is a massive presence of the pest, only the use of insecticides will help.
Caterpillars: butterfly larvae
Butterflies lay eggs on grass leaves, and later hungry caterpillars emerge from them. These caterpillars feed mainly on greens. In most cases, caterpillars accumulate locally, which makes it easy to collect them by hand.
If there are a lot of caterpillars original method pest control. Place a bird feeder with seeds in the immediate vicinity of a cluster of insects. Tits and sparrows will quickly get rid of the problem, without any chemicals processing.
Click beetle larvae. The larva resembles a worm, but is harder to the touch. Body length is about two centimeters. Wireworms live in the soil, feeding on young roots of lawn grass. When the pest appears, the grass growth slows down, and spots of yellowing grass appear on the lawn. Destroyed exclusively by spraying chemicals. It will not be possible to replace pesticides, since wireworms live underground. Digging up the entire lawn to get rid of the pest is not the best option.
The development period of a click beetle from egg to adult takes 5 years. In early spring, the female comes to the surface and lays eggs on the surface of the ground. The first year the larva does not cause harm. As the wireworm grows up, it begins to eat plant roots. After 3-4 years the larva pupates and in early spring An adult beetle appears on the surface of the earth, ready to repeat its life cycle.
For comfortable development of larvae, moisture and the availability of nutrients are needed. Therefore, lawn turf, rich in nutrients, is an attractive habitat for wireworms.
The wireworm's natural enemies are moles and shrews.
Ants
Ants don't eat root system And lawn grass. Problems arise from the fact that they are developing a lawn for their residence. Heaps of soil worsen the appearance and cover the grass, numerous underground passages dry out the root system and the lawn begins to die. At small quantity You can get rid of insects in the following way: place a jar of jam or sugar syrup near the anthill, and add ant poison to the treat. After a couple of days the ants will disappear.
There are several more simple ways fighting ants. If the anthill has already destroyed part of the lawn and there is nothing to lose, pour boiling water over them or sprinkle with boric acid.
It is important to remember that the use of insecticides is highly discouraged. Read the instructions for use of the medications carefully. Keep children and animals away from the lawn for a week after treatment. The best means against pests - natural methods of control.
