Organic Methods To Send Ants Packing

This introduction to organic ant control will answer three questions:

1. Do these insects truly cause damage in your yard?
2. Which herbs have traditionally been used to repel them?
3. Which products can help you in your organic ant control efforts?

Is It Really Necessary?

If you mention in certain circles that you practice ant control in the yard, you're likely to have some smart aleck pipe up and rant, "That's not really necessary. These insects don't cause much damage to plants, so just leave them alone." But what your Mr. Know-It-All isn't recognizing in his rant is that, indirectly, ants can cause significant damage to plants.
Ants have a sweet tooth for honeydew, a substance secreted by insect pests such as aphids, scale and whitefly. Not content to take a "hunter-gatherer" approach to supplying themselves with honeydew, ants act as "farmers," herding around the insect pests that produce the honeydew. The herders protect these insect pests from predatory insects that would, otherwise, kill them.
Ant control, then, can be regarded as a measure to take against insect pests such aphids, scale and whitefly. Incidentally, as if the direct damage caused by these herded insect pests weren't sufficiently troubling to convince you that ant control is a legitimate concern, consider this: sooty mold, a fungus that often coats honeydew-stained plants, can damage a plant by depriving it of sufficient sunlight. Oh, and sooty mold turns ornamental plants into eyesores, too, by the way.
Now that you understand when and why it's necessary to take action, let's consider a few organic methods used to tackle the problem. Note also that, in addition to the organic tips discussed below, successes in organic ant control have been reported using everything from parasitic wasps to talcum powder.

Organic Ant Control With Companion Planting

As gardeners, I think we're enamored with the idea that the solution to one plant's problem may well lie in another plant. Indeed, companion planting has helped gardeners deal effectively -- and organically -- with pests for centuries. There are even companion-planting solutions for ant control. Specifically, the fragrance of certain herbs has been thought to repel certain insects, including ants.

Before I cite examples of plants used traditionally for organic ant control, however, let me issue a disclaimer. One gardener may swear that such and such an herb discourages ants; but that doesn't much help another gardener (living, perhaps, in a different region) who tries the same herb but fails to enjoy the same results. Remember that a given herb may not repel all types of ants. If you wish to try companion planting for organic ant control, be ready to experiment: Don't take anything as "the Gospel truth," or you may suffer disappointment.
Besides, the nice thing about companion planting is that, even if it fails, all you're "stuck" with (besides the insects you're fighting, that is) are some additional plants -- plants which you may end up liking so much for their ornamental value, etc. that you decide they're now must-haves for your yard (so you haven't wasted any money, at least).

Examples of Herbs Used in Organic Ant Control

Click on the links below to determine if lavender, sage, catnip or tansy might be plants you'd be interested in trying for organic ant control:

• Lavender
  
• Sage
  
• Catnip
  
• Tansy

In experimenting with herbs for organic ant control, remember that you have some leeway in terms of exactly how you use the plants. This is an important consideration when you realize that tansy, for example, can be among the worst invasive plants. So note carefully that you don't necessarily have to plant the herbs for organic ant control around your specimen plants.
Instead, you can harvest the leaves from the herbs (grown elsewhere), then simply strew the leaves around a specimen plant. If you suspect a plant to be overly aggressive, plant it in a raised bed, where you have more control over it. Remember, too, that you would be targeting only specimen plants susceptible to aphids, scale and whitefly when employing this ant control method.

Organic Ant Control Products

"But," perhaps you object, "I don't have time to experiment with traditional methods of ant control. Is there an organic product that I can buy in stores or on the Web?"  Fortunately, for the committed modernist, yes, there are organic products sold for getting rid of ants.

One such ant control product is the Tree Tanglefoot Pest Barrier, an organic paste composed primarily of sticky substances (waxes and resins) that act as a sort of "fly paper" for ants. Another is Orange Guard, which functions as both a repellent and an insecticide for getting rid of ants. Its active ingredient (d-Limonene) is organic: orange peel extract. Eco Exempt IC-2 is another organic insecticide for ant control, being composed of mineral, wintergreen and rosemary oils.

Final Thought on Getting Rid of Ants

In closing, let's return to my initial question of whether it's necessary to get rid of ants, at all.  I stated essentially that controlling aphids, scale and whitefly entails, in part, controlling ants. But the corollary of this conclusion (vis-a-vis the health of your specimen plants, at least) is that if you do not have a problem with aphids, scale or whitefly, then you may not have to worry about getting rid of ants, either: many ants are, in themselves, harmless.
So don't overdo it! In defense of ants, your Mr. Know-It-All would have been correct to point out that ants do prey on certain insect pests. Ant control can be counterproductive when practiced blindly.
If only ants didn't have such a sweet tooth!  Source: http://landscaping.about.com/od/pestcontrol/Organic_Pest_Control_for_lnsect_and_Rodent_Garden_Pests_.htm

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The Best Landscape Materials

The best way to get the most out of the landscape materials that you are going to use for your landscaping project is to do your study about the layout of the area and chalks out a plan of action regarding the design as well as timetable for completing the landscape undertaking. Having completed these preliminary steps you are then ready to pick and choose the best landscape materials that will make your project turn out just right.
Beautiful Landscape

You will of course, need to incorporate in your design all those factors that will help in creating a beautiful landscape and also those factors that will also compliment the property. Colors as well as kind of landscape materials must be chosen with great care and should fit in well with the materials being used in your home.
Stones are the most often used type of landscape materials and the reason for this widespread usage is that stones help in reflecting nature and they also signify durability as well as strength. This is the reason why nearly every landscape design incorporates use of stones. However, other landscape materials are also becoming popular and so today there are also bricks and cement that are also finding favor amongst buyers.
In fact, certain bricks are being especially manufactured for use in landscapes and they are especially well liked when used in homes that are already constructed by bricks. Most landscape designers tend to match landscape materials with the materials used in the home though some people do choose landscape materials regardless of the fact that these materials do not compliment the materials already used in the home.
When it comes to choosing landscape materials you can opt for designs that are oriental, or you could go with bamboo design as these will compliment the landscaped structures very well. The Internet holds a vast amount of useful information that you can tap into before making the final selection regarding proper landscape materials. Otherwise, you can ask a landscape specialist about the proper landscape materials for your garden or yard.

Today, backyards have become an area around the home where homeowners love to showcase a special kind of beauty and this has given rise to the need to buy suitable lawn and garden supplies that will help decorate a deck, patio or improve the landscaping.
For those people who are worried about their budget and who find that stones are landscape materials that are too costly to buy, they can use products made out of cement which are less costly and which are just as attractive as actual stones.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/landscaping-articles/taking-the-best-landscape-materials-3412745.html


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