Hostile Takeover

I cannot believe the size of the anthill that has completely taken over one of my azaleas. I noticed it for the first time on Friday as I was whizzing out of my driveway, late for work as usual. My super-quick glance did not afford much insight into what I’d seen. On my way to work I even contemplated the possibility that the mound was a huge steaming pile of dog doo, courtesy of a neighbor’s pet. As I am one of the only neighborhood residents who performs the humiliating task of picking up poop on a daily basis (x two!), I have become accustomed to necessarily watching my step at all times. And yes, I have found more than one steaming pile of dog doo in many of my ornamental bushes. Argh!

In the four years that I’ve lived in my house, the ant infestation (usually more of a problem outside than in) has been inconsistent. I believe it was my first year here that they were particularly bad. I remember because my poor neighbor, who at the time mowed my lawn for me because he borrowed my lawnmower to do his own, mowed over an enormous fire ant hill and was bitten about a hundred times. OUCH!

I shy away from using chemicals in my attempts to kill the heinous pests, but I felt no guilt as I reached for an old bottle of Bayer Advanced Lawn Fire Ant Killer Ready-to-Use Dust that I purchased on close-out for $1 at Home Depot a couple of years ago. It has worked for me in the past, so here’s to hoping my azalea survives the brutal assault and that the ants move on or die off!

I spent a considerable amount of time looking for more natural, non-toxic remedies online, but there were so many that I gave up and reached for the quickest solution. The following are some of the recommended “homemade” ant killers I found. Please let me know if you have successfully used any of them to rid your yard of pesky fire ants!

1. Baking soda and white vinegar; vinegar alone; or a mixture of dish soap, water and vinegar.

2. Instant grits – spread around each mound, but only when it is dry, as the grits are supposed to remain dry after application.

3. Boric acid alone; and/or mixed with sugar or molasses.

For those who are interested, I have used TERRO’s indoor and outdoor ant baits and they work well. I just think this mound and another close by are way too big and exposed to be defeated by a few ant baits! I’m also afraid that the aforementioned neighbor’s dog might wander over and eat them.