With the arrival of summer, the ants are ready to march off to war and you're the enemy. Follow a few basic rules to reduce the size of this invasion.
The best defense is to not provide a target for the ants. That means cleaning your home well, wiping up spills as soon as they happen and always putting away food.
The rest of the rules:
• Trim tree and shrub branches away from structures.
• Keep heavy ground cover, such as ivy, out of landscape beds next to the house.
• Rid the yard of potential nesting sites for ants, including old landscape timbers, stumps and dead limbs.
• Avoid the use of stones and old landscape timbers near the home's foundation.
• Keep layers of mulch in landscape beds no more than 2 inches thick and keep it at least 12 inches from the foundation.
• Seal cracks in outside walls and foundations.
• Install tight-fitting screens on vents and windows.
• Provide adequate ventilation in crawl spaces.
• Replace rotted or moisture-damaged wood.
• Repair leaky pipes to eliminate a constant moisture source.
• Don't feed pets outside.
-- Homes & Gardens staff
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