How To Repel Ants With A Rustic Garden Addition You Already Love

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Ants are generally beneficial garden critters; they perform useful tasks in nature. They move the soil around, just as earthworms do, and clear away dead insects and plant matter. Ants have lived on this planet for around 80 million years, so they definitely know how to survive. Removing them from your garden entirely is neither advisable nor likely to be possible. However, there may be certain parts of your yard you wish they didn't inhabit. While you may be able to repel ants from your yard and garden using herbs they can't stand, there's another much-loved, rustic landscaping material that some species of ants tend to avoid: cedar wood chips.

Who doesn't love the earthy scent of cedar wood chips? But this attractive mulch has benefits beyond its pleasant balsamic perfume. Cedar wood contains a compound called thujone, which may help repel insect pests such as moths, cockroaches, carpet beetles, odorous house ants, and even Argentine ants when present in cedar essential oil. You can, for example, buy Houndsbay Cedar Moth Balls, which you pop inside your closet or dresser drawers to deter clothes moths. (On that note, now's the time to stop using standard mothballs.) What's more, a 2001 laboratory study published in the Journal of Economic Entomology found that both aged and fresh cedar wood mulch killed Argentine ants and odorous house ants, though fresh mulch was more toxic.

There you have it: scientific research suggests that cedar mulch could be beneficial for ant control in the garden. You can take advantage of the insect-repelling properties of thujone by covering beds where ants are building their nests with cedar wood chips. Apply a 2- to 3-inch-deep layer of mulch and refresh it as soon as it loses its strong scent. Get 9 pounds of USA-made Woodlore Kiln-Dried Eastern Red Aromatic Cedar Chips for around $40. You can also buy an 8-pound bag of Cedarcide Original Cedar Granules for about the same price.

Cedar wood chips aren't a magic bullet for all ant species. The material won't, for example, repel carpenter ants. These pesky critters have even been known to take up residence in this aromatic mulch. To try to prevent this from happening, keep the mulch less than 3 inches deep and at least 3 inches away from trees or structures. Rake or hoe it every now and then to disrupt any attempts at nest-building.

Keep in mind, too, that cedar wood chips may repel other insects, including those you want to keep around. If you don't want to use cedar mulch in certain areas of your yard, such as a pollinator patch or a wildflower meadow, explore other popular ant-repelling methods for best results, including fruit peels, coffee grounds, clove oil, or vinegar — among other natural deterrents. Some plants can also react negatively to an overabundant amount of wood chip mulch, particularly when it's fresh. Cedar mulch may also slightly acidify the soil. Pull back on using it if you notice your plants are being affected.