Hello Everyone,

I received an email from Tammy who complains about a sudden ant infestation in her near-the-front-door garden area where she has several containers. Little ant hills all over the place.

She asks for advice on how to deal with the problem (preferably not with poison).

Does anyone out there have any ideas? Have you had a similar problem in the past? What did you do about it? Were the actions taken successful?

Please help if you can,

Many thanks

Having lived in the country most of the time, ants often visited/played house, actually in the house or garden, but there is no way I wanted to harm them Lestie, so that means no commercial ant killers, or boiling water poured onto their nests.

Instead: lemon rind and juice, strong ground spices (cinnamon, black pepper, chili powder, or cloves), peppermint oil or coffee grounds, put by entry points, around the edges of the home, around nests.

Ants hate all of these things, pack up and leave.

Although I always made sure some nests were kept, as they attracted hedgehogs who had families during the summer months, also, when they were young, my sons were fascinated by the ants incredible organisation, and the complexity of their nests.

Kept them quiet for hours...the sons, not the ants.

Hey Francine, great to hear from you and will pass on the advice to Tammy toute suite! Thank you and it sounds sensible and easy and green and kind.

It could be worth an article too so we'll see. Insects across the world are under attack and there are some scary statistics that float about now and then in terms of how long humanity would have if all the insects 'left'. Bees, butterflies and all other pollinators, we can only lose.

I hope you are well well well and I send bestest,

Cheers now