Question
Hi, I love your organic remedies when it comes to yard problems.  I have a question on what is a good solution for ants.  I live in Houston, Texas by the way.  Last summer, we had ant problems popping up.  I would treat them with an ant insecticide and they would just migrate to a new location. The product was cheap.  Does that make a difference?  Organic remedy or not I would appreciate your input on this matter.  Thank you very much.

Answer
Hi Nathaniel;
Yep, it makes a difference.
The any insecticide you used will also kill your lawn critters that will eat all those ants.
If you use no chemiclas that will harm them, lozards, toads, and grass snakes will tae care of all the harmful insects you have. for every harnful insect you get in your soil, there are hundreds of beneficial ones that eat the harmful ones, so the best way to go is to make a healthy enviornment for those beneficial insects and critters.
I used to live in houston, a looooong time ago, and I had a lot of little anole lizards in my yard.
Meantime, to chase away the ants until your critters can come into your yard, if they aren't there now, you can scatter citrus peels.
Orange oil is the main ingredient in fire ant killers. a trail of lemon juice across where the little sugar ants come into your house will keep them out, soooo, get a bag of oranges and some lemons, peel them , chop the peels and scatter them over your yard.
The chopped lemon peels will keep neighborhood kitties from using your flower beds for a litter box too.
If you have a good sized yard, a way you can stretch the oil from the peels is to grind them up in the food processor, and add them to Epsom Salts, leave them in a closed container overnight to let the oil soak into the salts, and scatter that.
I get large containers of epsom Salts at Walmart for about 3 dollars for a bag that holds about a half gallon. I put the ground peels of 2 large or 3 medium oranges and 4 lemons in that much Salts. That will scatter over about100 sq.ft.
You don't have to scatter it very thick.
Hope that helps.
Charlotte