How can I keep ants from taking over my raised garden?

Gayle Bruck
by Gayle Bruck

I am new to raised gardening, let’s start there. I planted corn, green beans, red pepper and cucumbers. The cucumber did very well. Red pepper did nothing. Corn grew tall but did not produce ears. The beans grew but not tall and ants were all over them. I just had 6 bean plants and little ants were all over them. I tried insecticide( organic) but it did not work. I did collect some beans, total of 7, but they were so skinny and small. What happened? My garden bed is 4 x4 x 4 and I live in North Carolina. I want to be a successful gardener.

  4 answers
  • Rebecca Taylor Rebecca Taylor on Jul 19, 2019

    Hi Gayle, I put combat ant killing bait strip out in my garden. They are not very expensive. You can get them on walmart.com, ebay, amazon.

  • Nancy Turner Nancy Turner on Jul 19, 2019

    Sweetened cornbread and muffin mix works well for the ants I have in my yard (no fire ants up here yet). If you can find the mound, sprinkle it heavily, you will see it disappear just about overnight. Keep sprinkling it until you see no more activity when the mound is disturbed. Otherwise, sprinkle it around the raised bed until you don't see them anymore. Perhaps you overcrowded the bed a bit, or it was not deep enough with good garden or potting soil. It sounds like you did not let the green beans mature, they do usually get bigger before they are overripened. They are green from when the beans start to grow. Too much or too little rain can affect them, as well as if you have a lack of pollinators to pollinate the flowers. There are a lot of things that can affect the way they grow. It is only your first time, try again, it may work out better next time. Ask questions if you think you need help again. I know my veggies didn't do well this year because of too much rain and so little sun, only the one I put in pots at the side of the house are producing anything, but even then it was really slow. I have had veggie gardens since the mid eighties and this is the worst year for me.

  • I use packaged cornbread mix that says it is sweetened and put it where they are. They will take it to the mound, everyone will eat it and die, they can't digest the cornmeal, but will take it because it is sweetened. Little goes a long way.


    I read this from : Itsmemic

    Medicated powder from the Dollar Tree. It has eucalyptus in it...menthol...I puff it around my homes foundation..and inside under my birdcages in the cracks under moldings. Work immediately and they never come back. I do this at the first sign of ants..in one day..GONE. The powder is in a very large container and lasts quite awhile too !! And smells great !

    Not toxic to my birds OR dog


    What if you make a barrier around the house.

    I did some research, since we know what works for one person doesn't always work for another. I found this site and it's pretty informative. I know some tips you may not be able to use but there are some good ones also that will hopefully help.

    https://www.familyhandyman.com/pest-control/how-to-get-rid-of-ants/view-all/


    Ants are so weird. One time I found them inside the freezer in the garage!! What would possess them to go inside a freezer only to die? They must have sent signals back or something ~ there were no ant trails only a freezer full of dead ants. Hasn't happened since.


    Ant Spray - https://www.hometalk.com/diy/outdoor/pest-repeller/cheap-easy-homemade-ant-spray-31195184?


    oatmeal and koolaid . cant digest the oatmeal. Good Luck ?!