Brossard, a dynamic city on the South Shore bordering Longueuil and Saint-Lambert, has a high residential density in its neighbourhoods such as Solar and Rivière-du-Moulin. Homeowners who maintain vegetable gardens and landscaped gardens regularly report anthill problems, especially in sandy areas or near concrete edges. We received a request for intervention from a couple of homeowners whose vegetable garden was literally overgrown: mounds of earth had formed between the rows of vegetables, and ants were disturbing both the roots of the plants and daily gardening activities. The situation had progressed rapidly since the beginning of the summer season.
Garden inspection and species identification
The complexity of this intervention was that the treatment had to be adapted to a food growing area. Unregistered insecticides cannot be used near vegetables intended for consumption. Our technician first mapped the nests present: five distinct mounds spread over an area of about forty square meters, with galleries that were visibly deep given the loose and well-drained soil in the area.
The species identified was the lawn ant (Lasius neoniger), an ant native to Quebec that builds elaborate underground nests that can reach several tens of centimetres deep. If it does not bite and does not represent a direct health hazard, it can dislodge seedlings and destabilize the roots of young plants by disturbing the soil around them. Its galleries also create cracks in the soil that speed up drainage and interfere with the uniform irrigation of the vegetable garden. By disrupting the soil structure around the roots, ants reduce the uptake of nutrients and water by plants, which directly affects vegetable yields and crop vigour season after season.
Respectful treatment approach to the vegetable garden
To respect the environment of the vegetable garden, we have opted for a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, the application of granulated baits based on spinosad, a natural insecticide derived from soil bacteria and approved for use near vegetable crops. This product is specifically formulated to minimize the impact on garden auxiliaries such as earthworms and bees when applied correctly and at the indicated doses.
On the other hand, we carried out a direct treatment of the main nests by localized watering with a low-concentration insecticide solution, guided directly into the openings of the galleries with a thin tube in order to reach the brood chambers without spreading the product in the neighboring growing areas. This targeted application technique is essential to limit the exposure of edible plants.
To learn more about our specialized approach, our anthill destruction page presents all the methods available according to the context of intervention. You can also consult this realization in an outdoor residential environment and this case treated with great attention to the context to compare the approaches used.
Recommendations and long-term prevention
Beyond the immediate treatment, we have provided several practical recommendations to prevent the anthills from reconstituting the following season:
- Incorporate mature compost rather than fresh organic matter, which is more attractive to ants looking for decaying resources.
- Install physical geotextile fabric barriers between the concrete borders and the garden floor, to limit nesting in transition areas between hard surfaces and soft soil.
- Turn the soil in the affected areas at the end of the season to disturb the existing galleries before winter.
- Avoid over-irrigating areas near mounds, as dry nests are easier to treat.
Our team of exterminators in Brossard is used to this type of problem in a residential setting and can accompany you with a seasonal follow-up program. For comprehensive protection of the outdoor perimeter, our outdoor insect treatment service can be combined with anthill management for complete coverage. Nova Extermination’s experts are at your disposal for any request for information on the South Shore and its surrounding municipalities.