How To Get Rid Of Ants + 9 Natural Ways To Prevent Ants

Do you have ants in your pants? Gosh, I sure hope not! But I bet you have ants in other places. Your garden, your patio, your garbage, your kitchen maybe? Want to prevent ants from making a home in your home?

I haven’t had an ant inside my house for 11 years. Yes, 11 years. You want to know my secret? Sure you do! Read on and don’t be afraid to click on the product links. They will take you to the products I personally use to prevent ants from invading my living spaces.

9 Natural Ways To Prevent Ants from Invading Your Home and Garden

Diatomaceous Earth – I have written about this before in my other natural pest control posts. Diatomaceous earth, a natural mineral dust, dries out ants quickly but better yet, they carry it back to their nest and spread the love. This is the best way to prevent ant activity. All you need to do is sprinkle it around your garden areas and areas inside your home where ants hang out. This is the brand of Diatomaceous earth I use.

Liberal use of vinegar – Wipe the place where you have spotted ants with a 50-50 mixture of vinegar and water. The smell of vinegar removes their scent trails and thus keeps them away. This is great on outdoor patio furniture by the way!

Coffee grounds – Sprinkle some coffee grounds in your garden around the house. This keeps ants away because of the smell. You don’t need anything fancy. Cheap old Folgers works.

Citrus peels– Put citrus peels in hot water overnight. Then pour it around the plants where the ants are found. (This also deters a lot of other bugs as well).

Dry herbs and spices – Ants hate the smell of bay leaves, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, mint leaves, turmeric powder, cloves and garlic. Just crush one or more of these herbs up and sprinkle them in front of the areas they tend to hang out in.

Pine essential oil – A mixture of pine essential oil and water can be used as a repellent against fire ants specifically. Just spray the area you will be in with this mixture and fire ants will steer clear! This one is affordable and works well!

Tansy plants – Planting a tansy plant outside near your garbage can helps to keep ants away from them. You can find a live root to transplant here.

Neem oil – To keep ants away from kitchen shelves and cabinets, wipe them once a month with a cloth dipped in a neem oil and water mixture (about 5 drops of neem oil to a half a cup of water). I have had success with this brand.

If you find ants heading for your honey jar or sugar jar, simply place the honey or sugar jar on a plate and put a little water in the plate. That keeps the ants from getting into your sweet stuff.

How To Get Rid Of Ants

So what do I do if a see an ant getting to close to my humble abode? I blast it with EcoDefense. Made with Natural, Organic, and non-toxic ingredients, Eco Defense Pest Control Spray is the perfect solution for those looking to keep their homes free of pests and insects without the dangers of artificial sprays, baits, and pesticides commonly found on the market. It has virtually no odor, is safe around people, pets, and plants, and is very cost-effective. A little also gets the job done which is nice. On squirt kills ants within seconds.

Where can you find the herbs to make these ant preparations?

I get most of my herbs from my affiliate partner Amazon. I love the Frontier brand and Starwest Botanical brand available from Amazon.

What are your go-to natural ant control solutions? Please share your tips and tricks in the comments!

Be sure to check out all my other great natural pest control posts as well. I will teach you how to get rid of houseflies, keep mosquitoes at bay, stop slugs from nibbling your garden, keep moths out of your pantry and closets, prevent a spider invasion,  make earwigs a thing of the past, and more!