2016 Update: Still winning the ant war and I maintain more properties now.  I’m still using the TERRO PreFilled Liquid Ant Killer II Baits 6 Pack T300 and TERRO Outdoor Liquid Ant Bait 6 pack T1806 for bigger nests.  I’ve tapered off my use of TERRO 600 1-Pound Ant Killer Dust a bit. The only major change is this stuff for when you just are $#@!ing around anymore, Termidor.

I moved to a property in 2012 that has a lot of ants.  Local pest control companies wanted $250+ for the first visit and $65 or so for followup visits.  I have a rental property where they charge far less but for whatever reason they are classified differently.  The ants are coming into the home, trees, planters, gardens, garage, shed, etc.  I started with Ortho Home Defense MAX Indoor and Perimeter Insect Killer RTU Wand, 1.1-Gallon which partially effective for exterior perimeter but I would not recommend.  Perhaps it would be better indoors than out.

Next, I started to use these little traps TERRO PreFilled Liquid Ant Killer II Baits 6 Pack T300.  While they were more effective, they usually did not kill the colony.  I used several other products which were less effective and then decided to step  up the war with the larger traps TERRO Outdoor Liquid Ant Bait 6 pack T1806.  While more effective, these were only a solution for closed environments like planters or raised gardens.  I would recommend a combination fo the little and bigger bait traps for a garden where you don’t want to spray chemicals.

The final ingredient I was missing was a way to prevent the small group of remaining ants from reaching the house, tree, shed etc. TERRO 600 1-Pound Ant Killer Dust did the job and them some.  At this point, the pest issue is under control for the ants I can see.