Fighting for the Yard or how to Kill Termites in Garden?

One early morning you go out on your terrace with your morning sup of coffee and…you see the air swarming with winged insects!

Let’s say you’re a good entomologist and straight away recognize the termites.

Now you know – your yard is infested. What should you do about it? How to get rid of termites in garden?

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• Who Is the enemy?
• What are the other signs of the infestation?
• How to kill termites in yard?
• Baiting stations
• Soil treatment
• Wood treatment
• Foam
• Useful articles
• Helpful video
• Conclusion

Who Is the enemy?

If you see that the swarm is emerging directly from underground, you can be 100 percent sure you got yourself a subterranean termite infestation.

This termite species builds their nest in the soil, that protects them from direct sunlight and gives them a moist environment they need for survival.

Learn more about subterranean termites: signs of their activity; best methods of treatment and DIY methods. Eastern subterranean termites and their tunnels and tubes with photo.

In the worst case scenario, you might have the infamous Formosan termites in your garden.

This species, not native to US, are the most destructive pests for the households. This is mostly due to the incredible size of their colonies.

In full development the Formosan termite nest can sustain millions of individuals. And If the sign you noticed is a swarm – it is an adult colony.

Killing the subterranean termites, while they seem to only nest in your garden without attacking your home, is extremely important. The termite has no plan and forages in any wooden construction they can find in contact with soil.

And the chances are – one day they will find your house. So the best you can do is to eliminate the colony before this happens.

What are the other signs of the infestation?

Termite swarm means the colony has reached its full development and might already be there for few years, then you should consider yourself lucky, if you still don’t have them in your house, but there can be other signs:

1. Hollowed wood.
2. Termites in soil.

Make an inspection of small wooden structures, trees and stumps in your backyard. Take a screwdriver and tap with the dull end on wood – if the sound feels a bit hollowed, pick it with the sharp end. You will see if the wood is damaged, and maybe even catch some termite workers on crime scene.

Take some time and check if you might see any termites in the soil itself. The best way to do so – is to dig slightly your flowerbeds, if they are covered with any kind of mulch (it creates good conditions for subterranean termites to nest) and around the tree roots.

When you find the insects, make sure it’s termites and not ants, so you don’t waste your time fighting a wrong enemy.

Advice! If you’re not sure that you can tell termite from an ant, you can collect some samples and bring them to your local pest control office for the identification.

And coming back to the swarm, you always might skip the moment it actually happened. But afterwards you might see a lot of shed wings around your garden and on the windowsills.

If you found them, remember that winged termites never end up too far away from their nest. So, the more wings you notice – the better chances that the colony is very close.

How to kill termites in yard?

When you find a small infestation in the garden, for example in a stump, your first instinct might be to burn it. It’s simple, doesn’t take much time and everyone inside is definitely dead afterwards. Don’t rush, remember that that way would work only with drywood termites.

The Subterranean ones have their nest somewhere else and if you burn the infested wood you will only make them find another place for foraging. So you might be directing them toward your house. So, if you found even a small sign of infestation – fight it for real.

So, how to get rid of termites in the garden? There’re so many different methods of DIY and professional anti-termite treatments that it’s not surprising to get confused. There’re several things you can do for the termites in your garden:

1. Baiting stations.
2. Soil treatment.
3. Wood treatment.
4. Foam.

Baiting stations

How to get rid of termites in your garden, in case of the colony? The baiting system is, possibly, the best way of getting rid of termites in the garden that ensure the full pest extermination.

There’re two kinds of baiting stations on the market:

• with termiticide;
• without termiticide.

Here you can learn more information about termite bait systems: Advance, Green, CSIRO, Nemesis, Exterra, Firstline, Terminate. Also find out how to make baits by yourself and how to refill them?

The stakes that already have a bait poisoned with termiticide are usually the ones the can be a completely DIY method. For these ones you just need to install them around your house or in other strategical places, where you’re sure that termites will find it and wait for the results.

Very important in this treatment is to choose the termiticide that has a delayed poisonous action. Then the workers, that collect the bait will have time to bring it to the nest and share it with other members. This will slowly but surely reduce the numbers of the colony and bring it down in several weeks.

One flaw about the usage of pretreated stakes is that the termites might figure out that eating on the cardboard inside this particular stake brings death too early. For this you can use the untreated stations first.

The baits without termiticide basically just have a delicious snack for termites inside and a monitor on top. After the placement of those traps you wait until the monitor shows the sign of termite activity, and when this activity is constant and high you add the insecticide of your choosing and enjoy the fall of termite’s empire.

Soil treatment

How to control termites in the garden if you know with certainty where’s the nest? First of all, you can do a simple version of the treatment and just pour gallons of termiticide on it. But there’s always a chance that the nest you found is only a satellite colony and destroying it will not bring the results you hope for.

So, the soil treatment is important, but mostly as a prevention method. You can put a chemical barrier between the termites and every wooden structure on your land, starting from the house and finishing with stumps. At least it will give you time to fight the infestation without rush.

Important! Remember that the soil treatment doesn’t last forever. You need to renew it every several years, depending of the active ingredient of the termiticide.

Wood treatment

How to treat for termites in the yard when you have small wooden structures in your yard, or your house has features that come in direct contact with soil? You should treat the wood, before it got infested.

The repellent termiticide can be applied with the spray or a paintbrush.

The wood treatments often last for the whole period of life of the wood, so you’ll need to do this only once.

There’re also totally eco-friendly natural termiticides you can use for this, such as orange and other oils.

Foam

Foam is usually used when the structure is already infested. There’re termiticides with the delayed poisonous action, that you can use for foaming. So, when you’ve found a sump or a tree in your garden that shelters a colony, you can inject the foam into the crevices and holes.

Here you can learn more information about effective termite control remedies: Bora-Care, Boric acid, Borate, Fipronil, Chlorpyrifos, Chlordane, Borax, Timbor, Termidor, Terminator, Phantom, Lorsban, Biflex, Terro. You can choose different forms, such as – liquid, powder.

Or you can drill the holes yourself, breaking inside the termite corridors. The injected foam rapidly expands and transforms the whole structure into a giant baiting station. If you’re lucky – this will destroy he colony in a matter of weeks.

There’re also the foams on the market that kill on contact. The efficiency of those will be lower, because there’s no guarantee that you will manage to reach all of the members of the colony, and the rest of the nest might relocate and continue thriving in your garden.

Useful articles

If you interested in more information of termites we recommend you to read the following articles:

• All types of termites. Are they harmful to humans? Can they bite you? And what is the difference between drywood and subterranean ones?
• What does swarmers of different species look like: drywood, subterranean, formosan?
• Signs of infestation outside and in the house: in walls or furniture.
• How to treat them at home and in the yard: in wood or in fence. How long this process lasts and what is pre-construction treatment?
• What does termite holes look like? What is droppings and is it toxic to humans? Do termites make noises?
• Posible termite damage, how does it look like? Examples of damage in walls and wood floors.
• All about flying termites: how do they look like, swarming season and what to do if there are swarmers in your house?
• How do they do nests and mounds? How to find it in your garden or inside the house?
• Termite life cycle – from egg to larvae. And social hierarchy: workers, soldiers, queen.
• Did you know that termites can infest living trees, for example a palm or a pine tree. They also like to live in stumps.
• You can prevent the infestation by using barriers, such as: HomeGuard, Physical systems, Safeguard, Stainless steel mesh, Kordon.
• If you want to get rid of termites naturally, learn more about such methods as: heat or cold treatment, orange oil, using nematodes.

Helpful video

Check the information from a pest control specialist in this free video:

Conclusion

Remember that all this can be also done by professional exterminators.

If you’re completely unexperienced with DIY methods – make a contract with the pest control operator and call for them, whenever you suspect the presence of the subterranean termites nearby.

The annual inspection also will take your mind of constant search for the termite activity signs.

Whatever you choose, do not ignore termite activity in your garden. Do something about it now and you won’t need the costly damage repairs later.