Consider these tips to keep carpenter ants off your trellis

Abell Pest Control

Carpenter ants may seem innocent, but they're not. This pest is unrelenting, and will dig through just about anything made out of wood. If you have a porch, deck, playground, gazebo, garden or even wooden steps, they could be vulnerable to the wrath of carpenter ants. While this ant likes to hide away in the winter months, it loves to come out in the summer, and that can be problematic.

Dry wood isn't their favorite, but they'll eat through it if damp wood is nearby. Slowly but surely, these colonies will eat away at structures until there's very little left of them, and that can be dangerous for you and your family. One of their favorite places to nibble on is a trellis, because they're easy to access and usually are covered by some form of vegetation that lets the wood get damp. One minute you could be appreciating your flowers and the next it could be falling down. Consider these tips to keep carpenter ants off your trellis.

  1. Look for the nest
    If you suspect that you've got a major carpenter ant issue on your hands, it's time to look for the nest, Washington Toxics Coalition stated. Usually the nest is on the outside of whatever structure the ants are boring into, in this case, a trellis. Ants like to keep their nests on the outside of the structure because it's usually much more wet outside, especially when surrounded by vegetation. It's important to determine if this is the only structure the ants have bored into. Of course, many trellises are near houses, and you want to make sure that these invasive pests have not made the trek into your home. They may have built a satellite nest on or near your house, so it's important to look for these too. Satellite nests are smaller and usually have less ants. Once you do find the nest, destroy it on your own or contact a pest management company to do it for you, Veggie Gardener noted.
  2. Get rid of moisture
    Carpenter ants thrive on moisture, which helps soften the wood that they chew through. Make their jobs a lot harder by getting rid of moisture. Paint the trellis or waterproof the wood to make it harder to gnaw into. As mentioned, carpenter ants only like to bite through small amounts of dry wood before they reach wet wood.
  3. Cut back on vegetation
    This can be hard with a trellis. However, if you've had a carpenter ant infestation, you need to initially cut back on vegetation, including ivy and roses. Paint the structure right away and wait a while before adding plants to the area again.


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