Some ants have started building an ant farm in this area next to my patio where I was planning to plant some flowers this year. I can’t tell if they’re fire ants and wondering if just drowning the area with a hose would convince them to vacate
by elizabethredditor
5 Comments
Fire ants! Blast ‘em!
Plain water won’t do anything. Boiling water will at least kill those it contacts.
Those are fire ants. Although many ants in the garden are fine, you don’t want these ones. I’d boil a couple gallons of water and cook them by pour the hot water wherever you see them, including lifting up the stones. Just be careful to not torch any of your plants.
A hose won’t hurt them. They love water.
The Austin city website has this nifty [ant identification guide](https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Watershed/growgreen/training/1-Speaker-One-1-30-13-Ants-Identification-and-Management-Brown.pdf) for our area. It’s a little hard to tell in the picture but it kinda looks like a fire ant? Once you’ve identified it you can look at the specific treatments suggested in that PDF. It’s super useful!
These very well may be fire ants, but I want to offer that I have new guests this year. Leaf cutting ants are taking over my front yard and amdro does nothing to them. I’ve ordered a special poison.