Can You Get Rid of an Ant Nest Without Treating the Colony in Great Shelford?

Not dependably. In a Great Shelford garden the nest is typically in a border against the house, under a lawn edge or beneath the paving of an extension, and the colony is a good deal larger than the trail on the floor suggests. You can disturb it, but without treating the colony you rarely end it.

Where the Nest Usually Is

Family houses with generous gardens give ants plenty of choice. The common places are:

• The soil of a border running up against the house wall
• Under the stepping stones or patio by the back door
• At the edge of the lawn, where the grass meets paving
• Under an extension slab or at its junction with the original wall
• In a warm spot indoors, such as an airing cupboard or behind a boiler

What Happens If You Dig It Out

With a border nest, a spade will turn up the surface galleries, scatter the workers and perhaps expose some brood. Unless you reach the queen, which can be a good way down, the colony reorganises. Some workers return to the same place; others carry brood off to a new site nearby. You can find yourself with the problem in two places at once.

The Flying Ant Day Question

On a warm, humid afternoon in summer, winged ants may pour out of paving cracks and lawn edges. That is the annual mating flight, and it is normal. It tells you a mature colony is close by, not that your house has failed. If they emerge inside the building, however, the colony is in the structure and that does need dealing with.

If your Great Shelford house has had an extension or a conservatory, check the junction with the original wall. It is a warm, sheltered gap where ants often get in.

What Works Better Than Digging

1. Leave the trail in place and avoid sprays on the day we visit
2. We apply a slow-acting product on the routes the workers use
3. They take it back and share it through the colony, including the queen
4. We advise on gaps, food storage and border planting that keeps mulch and dense growth off the brickwork

Our Great Shelford ant control page explains the process. The price is a fixed £240, with no call-out fee and the figure confirmed before we book you in. The ant control cost guide details what you get, and ants returning within 14 days are re-treated free.

When You Can Reasonably Leave It

If the ants are confined to the garden and not coming indoors, there is little harm in leaving them. They are a normal part of lawns and borders. It becomes a problem when trails reach the kitchen, the conservatory or the bins, or when activity continues for several weeks.

If you would like to know exactly what you have, a pest inspection and survey costs £120 and identifies the species and where they are entering.

With larger houses and longer gardens, Great Shelford homes often have more than one place where ants could be settled. A quick walk round the outside, looking at where the border meets the wall and where the patio meets the house, usually shows where the trail begins. Tell us what you found when you ring.

Call 01223 902388 or send a WhatsApp photo, and we will tell you whether treatment is worth it.