How to Get Rid of an Ant Nest in the Lawn

Ants are amazing. They are tiny but powerful animals. Ants can carry up to five times their own weight. And they can also turn a fun day in the yard into a sudden tear filled day by just a couple of bites on a child's foot. Ants can also stop a picnic by just showing up. Luckily, there are effective ways to get rid of ant nests in the lawn.

Things You'll Need

  • Water
  • Soap
  • Baby powder
  • Bucket
  • Shovel
  • Cinnamon
  • Cream of wheat
  • Boric acid
  • Sugar water
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Flood them out. A quick way to make ants move their nests is to continually flood them out. The best way to flood them out is to use a soapy water mix and drench the ant nest daily until the ants move.

    • 2

      Burn them out. Another good way to destroy ant nests is to boil a lot of water, then pour the water on the ant colony. It is important to make sure that the water will still be at least 160 to 170 degrees when it reaches the queen ant to destroy the ant nest.

    • 3

      Dig the ant nest out. This is a very effective way to get rid of the ant nest. Make sure to do this is in the morning to get the majority of the ants. Take a bucket and pour baby powder in the bucket. Then put baby powder on the shovel. Next shovel to about a foot of the soil under the ant nest. Put the ant nest in the bucket. The baby powder will keep the ants from leaving the bucket. After the ants are in the bucket, you can either kill them with hot water and soap or move them to a place that they will be out of the way.

    • 4

      Use cinnamon. Although it sounds strange but if you surround the ant nest with cinnamon, ants will quickly retreat.

    • 5

      Feed the ants. Put out a uncooked bowl of cream of wheat next to the colony. The ants will eat it. As the food is digested it expands. This causes the ants' stomachs to explode and kill the ant.

    • 6

      Make a boric and sugar water 50/50 mix. Add a little water to this mix. Then place where you see the trail. Boric acid doesn't work immediately which will give the ant time to go back to the nest and kill the whole colony.