Effective garden ant control: The simple trap you can make at home

Although ants are generally beneficial for the garden ecosystem, when there are too many, damage can begin to appear. At that point, it's worth using a simple but effective trap that will solve this problem very quickly.

Usually, the presence of ants in the garden is beneficial. These small insects thoroughly clean the lawn of organic debris, and by digging underground tunnels, they aerate the soil, making it more fertile.

However, if the ant population on our plot grows significantly, it's better to act before they destroy, for example, flowering ornamental plants. Before reaching for chemical agents available in garden stores, it's worth using less drastic methods for the environment.

An effective method is to prepare a simple, homemade trap you can make in just a few minutes. You need an empty plastic bottle, for example, a water bottle, sugar, honey, and borax.

Put a heaped tablespoon of borax and the same amount or more of sugar and honey into the bottle. Shake it thoroughly to combine the ingredients. Then, cut an opening in the bottle so that the ants can enter, and place the prepared trap in the garden—preferably where there are the most insects.

The sugar will attract the ants, which will eagerly eat the mixture, poisoning themselves with the borax. And if one of them, as they tend to do, carries the food to the nest, it will poison the entire colony.

Although borax, sodium borate, is an ecological alternative to chemical agents, it's worth exercising caution when using it. Improper use can result in skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.

Therefore, when deciding to use borax-based mixtures, preparing them in well-ventilated areas is wise. It's also advisable not to forget protective gloves on your hands and to seal the borax container tightly after finishing, keeping it out of reach of children and pets.