How To Get Rid Of Ants On Your Houston Property For Good

When ants get into your Houston property, you know how to get rid of them. You suck them up with a vacuum cleaner, clean the area of all the ants, and remove whatever food source is attracting them. A food source might be food that landed on the floor in a hidden place. It might be a moist spot on your floor where a bag of trash was set down. It might be dirty recycling bottles or cans. There are many things that ants will go after. But we're not telling you anything you don't know. If you've owned your Houston home for a while, you probably have strategies for dealing with ants. But how do you get rid of ants for good? How do you stop that occasional frustrating ant clean-up? The secret is to understand why ants get into your home and to deter them by altering these conditions.

A Dry Perimeter

One of the first ways you can deter ants and reduce the number of ants crawling around the outside of your Houston home in search of tiny openings to exploit is to keep your perimeter dry. Moisture can lead to plant decay, which is attractive to aphids and other plant-damaging pests. When aphids attack your plants, they excrete a sweet substance called honeydew. This is a very attractive food source for ants. Moisture will cause wood to decay, and this can attract carpenter ants. Droplets of water in moist areas provide water sources for ants. Do you see how it works? If you want to reduce ants around your home, you need to address moisture. Here are a few tips.

• Clear your gutters of obstructions.
• Fix plumbing issues that cause dampness.
• Remove weeds from your landscaping.
• Remove plants in dense areas of vegetation.
• Water your plants in the early morning. 

A Clear Perimeter

When ants crawl around near your home, they're going to want to find piles of leaves, leaf litter, branches, pieces of wood, clipped grass, and other organic material. Under these, they find damp habitats and food sources. You can reduce and resist ants by keeping the perimeter around your home (that's the areas within about six feet of your foundation on all sides) as clear as possible.

Proper Trash Management

Ants can smell a dirty trash receptacle or rotting organic matter inside a trash bin from several feet away. If you want to have fewer ants around your Houston home, you need to keep your trash bins as clean as possible and make sure to have trash removed from your property weekly.

Sanitation

Ants don't just eat food from your trash, they can find food sources in many places—some of them unexpected. Here are a few examples.

• If you have a grill, it is important to keep it as clean as possible.
• If you have bird feeders, we recommend putting them at least 20 feet from your exterior.
• If you have a dog, try to stay on top of waste cleanup. Ants can be drawn to feces as a source of protein.
• If you have trees that produce nuts, it is never a good idea to put bags of collect nuts near your home.
• Dead insects are a source of food. When you take steps to reduce insects, it will have an impact on ant populations.

Targeted Ant Control

There are products that can target ant colonies and eliminate them. These products can help to provide added protection or to give essential pest protection for a Houston home that has vulnerabilities that can't be addressed. These products should be selected and administered by licensed pest professionals. 

For assistance with pest control in Houston, reach out to us here at Cantu Pest & Termite. We can guide you in finding the right solutions for your Houston property.