How to Get Rid of Outdoor Ants
Last update on 2023-06-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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How to Get Rid of Outdoor Ants
Having a normal number of ants outside your home is not an issue, but if they start to become a problem and to infest your outdoor living spaces, it can start to get annoying. The most important thing you can do for yourself kills the colony instead of wasting time on the ants individually.
In this article, we are going to review some of the best products for killing the colony outside before you have to deal with the ants inside.
BEST OVERALL
Terro Outdoor Liquid Ant Bait
Last update on 2023-06-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Allows worker ants to poison the entire colony
- Great for large infestations
- Kills the ants before the get into your home
- Simple and easy to follow instructions
- Kills all forms of ants
- Works quickly
Cons
- Not that easy to tell how much bait is missing
- Dries up if not used quick enough
Features & Specs
- It comes in packs of one, two, three, or six
- Kills all forms of household ants
- For use outdoors to kill ants before they get in
- Can be staked into the ground
This trap can kill all forms of common household ants including Argentine ants, ghost ants, cornfield ants, acrobat ants, pavement ants, little black ants, white-footed ants, odorous house ants, and sweet-eating ants.
This trap is excellent at getting the ants that you do not see out in the open because of the slow process it takes on the worker ants.
BEST OUTDOOR STAKES
Terro Outdoor Liquid Ant Killer Bait Stakes
Last update on 2023-06-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Kills off entire colony
- Stakes are easy to stick in ground and do not blow away
- See through so you can monitor the bait level
- Skills all forms of household ants
- Weatherproof design
Cons
- You need to be careful not to contaminate the stakes with any other odors, or the ants
- will not get attracted to it
- Takes time to work
Features & Specs
- Contains 16 stakes
- Takes up to two weeks to work
- See through bait level monitor
- Kills the colony at the queen
enough poison and it kills them slowly enough to allow them to bring the bait back to the colony and kill off the entire colony and the queen.
These stakes attract all forms of common household ants, and the bait contains 16 weatherproof stakes that are ready to use right out of the box. One of the great features of these stakes is that you can see through them, so you know precisely how much bait is left inside. This makes it easy for you to replace them and not waste any time wondering how much is left.
These stakes get stuck in the ground in areas where you believe the worker ants are traveling and it takes approximately two weeks to kill off the entire colony from one stake. Each pack contains eight stakes, and this comes in a two pack.

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Advion Ant Gel Bait Review
| Updated for 2021Overall Rating: Pros Effective for more than 15 ant species Fast-acting Kills off queen ant and colony Cons May require daily reapplication Can be toxic if ingested More...

Taurus SC Review
Taurus SC is a concentrated bug killer originally only used by professionals. Learn more in our review on how to use Taurus SC.
BEST OUTDOOR SPRAY
Terro Outdoor Ant Killer Spray
Last update on 2023-06-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Very effective at getting into tight places
- Simple and easy to use
- Kills ants immediately
- Can destroy the colony if used directly
- Odorless
Cons
- Does not kill the entire colony
- Can be messy
Features & Specs
- 19oz spray bottle
- Sprays up to 15 feet
- Spray into crevices and cracks
- Kills ants on contact
This spray works for immediately kill on contact and is also very effective at controlling the population of ants in the future.
Using the spray can you can spray into hard-to-reach places as deep as 15 feet away. This ant killer works great for sprinkling in cracks of doors, windows, and cracks in foundations as well. The manufacturer recommends using it outside around the foundation of your home in the early spring when ants try to enter the house. They also suggest it at the beginning of fall.
BEST OUTDOOR GEL
Combat Max Indoor/Outdoor Gel
Last update on 2023-06-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Kills off the entire colony and the queen
- Effective long-term strategy for controlling the population
- Simple and easy to use
- Safe around pets and children
- Comes with a syringe applicator
- Works quickly at killing the colony
Cons
- Air bubbles get into the syringe causing it to splatter
- Requires a lot of gel to be effective
Features & Specs
- Gel-based ant killer
- Comes with one 27-gram tube and syringe applicator
- Easy to apply
- Controls ant population in as little as three days
- Ready to use out of the box
The gel is designed with a high water content, so it allows the ants to consume it faster and this allows the ant colony to start depleting within one hour and the entire colony can get destroyed within three to five days.
The gel comes with a syringe which allows you to apply this gel to difficult to reach areas without making a mess.
This gel is incredibly effective at attracting ants from the areas where you cannot see them inside your home. You can use this along with the perimeter of areas where you see a lot of ants.
BEST LAWN TREATMENT
Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer
Last update on 2023-06-09 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Effective at treating large-scale infestations
- Can keeps pests away for the entire season
- One bag can handle the whole lawn
- Safe on flowers and plants
Cons
- Requires watering-in
- You need to keep pets away until the treatment is watered in because it is not safe around them
- when left on the surface
Features & Specs
- 10lb. Bag of lawn granules
- Can treat 10,000 square feet
- Useful on a variety of pests
- Requires watering-in
This product comes in a 10lb. Bag of lawn granules that treats up to 10,000 square feet. Effective at killing ants, fleas, ticks, mites, and more. The lawn granules are okay to use on flowers and vegetable gardens as well as along your home’s foundation.

Pests-Proofing your RVs, Campers and Travel Trailers for Winter Storage
Read more to find out how you can protect your RVs and campers while they are in storage from pests. Some methods are surprisingly easy.

Advion Ant Gel Bait Review
| Updated for 2021Overall Rating: Pros Effective for more than 15 ant species Fast-acting Kills off queen ant and colony Cons May require daily reapplication Can be toxic if ingested More...

Taurus SC Review
Taurus SC is a concentrated bug killer originally only used by professionals. Learn more in our review on how to use Taurus SC.
Outdoor Ant Baiting Tips
The best way to control the outdoor ant population is always to kill the entire colony at the core. You want to be able to locate where the ants are coming from and what their traffic patterns are. If you know where the worker ants go to forage, you can interrupt their habit with a trap and bait.
Early in the morning when they are most active, you can then place the bait in the middle of this travel path and force them to take it back to their queen. Once they do this, and the queen feeds from the bait this will slowly kill the entire colony within two weeks and you will have no more ant issue in your yard.
If you cannot locate the travel path or any of the mounds an entire lawn treatment would be an effective way to kill off the colony. This plan will treat the whole lawn so even the underground colonies will get affected once your water in the treatment. This is not the same as baiting them because you are not actually baiting the ants–you are using a pesticide to kill of the entire colony.
Whenever possible use a liquid or a gel bait, these are the most effective ways to guarantee that the ants are attracted to the bait and the high water content of the liquid allows the ants to consume the bait faster and thus killing off the population faster.
All in all, killing off an entire ant colony requires patience and persistence. If one strategy does not work, do not get discouraged. Continue trying different methods until the problem is gone.
How to Identify an Ant Colony
If you are having trouble locating a colony in your yard there are a few things you can do to reassure yourself that you have successfully found the source of your ant problem. Check to see if you have small piles of loose soil sitting on the surface of your yard. The soil often looks like sawdust because the ants chew it up and push it out the hole.
Some ants live in damp wood, and the same process applies. Check to see if there are small holes in the wood with piles of wood dust sitting on top of the logs or around it. If there is an abundance of this that could be the source of your infestation and it would be best to bait near there or spray it down with dust or insecticide.