As soon as warm weather hits, so do the picnics and the ants! If only you knew an easy way to keep them away from the food and the surrounding area. Well, today is your lucky day. I just came across a couple of ways to keep ants away from your picnic without having to be cruel. Believe it or not, you probably have both items in your home already! These items are safe, too, so you won’t have to worry about the kids or animals.
Photo Credit to ingimages
Getting Rid of Ants
When you start planning your picnic or any other outdoor gathering, think about getting rid of the ants first! What are these easy ways to get rid of ants?
Ground Cinnamon
The first way to get rid of ants is with ground cinnamon. Depending on the size of the area, you may need to get a large bottle of cinnamon. Bulk food stores normally have it pretty cheap ($5.00 to $7.00).
Start by sprinkling the cinnamon around the area where the food will be. Next, move any tables that the food will sit on to where they will be during the picnic. Sprinkle the table legs with the cinnamon so that no ants will climb up the legs. If you’ll be covering the table with tablecloths, sprinkle some cinnamon on the bare table too, just for added protection. You can wipe off the excess cinnamon just before you put the tablecloth on.
The ants don’t like the cinnamon and will avoid those areas. The day of the picnic sprinkle a bit more cinnamon around the legs of the tables and on the ground under the table.
Dryer Sheets
The second way of getting rid of ants before and during the picnic is with dryer sheets. Lay some of the sheets around the area. You can also rub the sheets up and down the legs of the table where the food will be placed.
If desired, place one dryer sheet under each table leg. For some reason, the ants don’t like the dryer sheets and will avoid them. I’m not sure if they avoid a certain dryer sheet more than others, but the Bounce sheets seem to work great.
More uses for dryer sheets…
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Bonus Tip – Tansy
I’ve never tried tansy as an ant repellent, but many people say it works fantastic! They just use the tansy anywhere they wanted the ants gone. They say it works with other insects and bugs too. By just using small clippings of tansy in the window sills and near the doors have kept some people ant free all summer long.
Try what you have at home and let us know how it works for you!
When I was researching for Backyard Farming on an Acre (More or Less) Tansy flowers were one of the few companion plants historically used for pest control that had scientific studies and research to back up it’s effectiveness. Many were thought to be helpful but I couldn’t find studies to support all their uses. Tansy however had a positive impact in repelling several garden pests.
My family always used a chemical called Taro (I think) or Borax. I like the cinnamon trick much better;). It seems so much safer!!!