What Are The Most Effective Ant Prevention Methods?

With 12,000 species of ants around the world, at some point, you’ve most likely encountered them marching across your garden or, worse, inside your home. Generally, ants aren’t known to leave on their own accord, so effective ant prevention measures may need to be taken.

Ants Found Within The UK

Ants are an impressive species, having the title of ‘the world’s strongest creature.’ This is due to their extraordinary ability to carry 50 times their own body weight. Though, as magnificent as they may be, that doesn’t make them any less annoying. The clue is in their name as to why they can cause such irritation among us…they are very persist-ant!

The most common ant you’ll find on our shores is the black ant or garden ant. Luckily for us, these are harmless to humans as they don’t carry disease. 

Ants will travel large distances in search of food. Once they’ve found a tasty food source, they’ll then send a message to other colony members to join the party. Before long, you may have large numbers, even up to as many as 15,000, quite literally on your doorstep. 

Hotspots for ants creating nests are within our patios, gardens, kitchen cupboards, or anywhere they can find a small gap to occupy. 

Find out more about common types of ants found within the UK. 

Tackling Ants Within Your Home

If they’ve found an entry point within your home, ants aren’t overly picky about what room they go and investigate. However, with their main focus being on food – you won’t be surprised to hear that the kitchen is their favourite place to be.

Even relatively clean kitchens can attract the unwanted attention of ants. With their sheer determination to find something to eat, they will hunt high and low for open access to food or crumbs that may be on offer. The good news is there are some simple measures you can take to prevent them from having an all-you-can-eat buffet in your home.

The first important step to take is to look around and seal up any entry points where they may be gaining access. This is normally along window frames, walls, and cracks in door frames or tiles.

The next task is one we’d probably all rather not have to do in our spare time – yes, you guessed it, it’s time to have a good cleaning session. By removing temptation, they won’t want to stick around. So, wipe down your counters and inside your cupboards. Throwing away any items that look like they’ve been snacked on, such as a ripped bag of sugar. Then get vacuuming up any crumbs and mopping those floors.

Once you’ve finished that workout, be sure to:

• Always clean up every time you cook and eat. Washing dirty dishes and keeping your work surfaces free from any food spillages.
• Store any loose food items in sealed air-tight containers, ideally within cupboards or the fridge.
• Keep a close eye on fruit bowls, regularly discarding any that may be fermenting.
• Make sure that all bin lids are closed securely.
• Check for any leaks under your sink, as ants are also drawn to moisture. If your property has damp spaces, consider using a dehumidifier. 
• If you have a pet, it’s best to clear up any food they may leave and regularly wash their bowls. Also, like ours, keep their food within sealed containers too.

Dealing With Ants In Your Garden

Most ants provide nutrients to the soil and help pollinate garden plants, so they do have some good points. However, if you have an infestation, it can be a real nuisance. 

Along with doing external checks for entry points to seal up, there are also some further ant prevention methods to keep ants away:

• Remove any standing water from around your garden. 
• Repair any leaking pipes and taps, or blocked gutters. 
• Make sure external bins are also tightly sealed. 
• Keep your yard well-kept. Trimming back plants, trees and shrubs, especially those close to or against your house.
• Ants are particularly attracted to sugary substances such as nectar. They also collect seeds from plants such as cabbage, heather, and radish. If you have any of these in your garden, you may want to consider removing them or putting them in a secure greenhouse.
• If you’ve been lucky enough to have a barbecue between our April showers, check that no food has been dropped on the ground and clean your grill down.

Effective Ant Control

There are a number of natural ways to eliminate and repel ants. However, if all of the above fails or you don’t want to tackle an ant infestation yourself, then we have a range of ant control treatments to help. 

The professional products we use will destroy most ant colonies rapidly. They are also far more effective than off-the-shelf products purchased from the local supermarket or DIY store. The safety of children and pets is a key requirement of many of our clients, and we always ensure that the treatment plans we employ keep this in mind.

Get in touch with our experts to find out more.