Natural Ant Control for it's that time of year!

Add borax to sugar.  The oft quoted concentration is 50:50 but if you start with that, the ants will not likely be too fond of it.  Start with a much lower concentration of borax – maybe 10% and very gradually increase it to 30-40%.  The objective is to have the ants take as much borax as possible into the nest and they’ll take it if it is sweet.  Put it where you see the ants or on the ant trails.

Try baby powder or talcum powder on the ants and their ant trail.

Use vinegar to destroy their trails.  You can use it full strength or dilute it with water.

Cinnamon or black pepper – from the spice rack – is increasingly being used in garden insect control trials and products.  You can dust the indoor and outdoor nests.  Sprinkle it around where you see them coming into the house.

Some gardeners have great luck simply spraying the ant areas – their trail, their entry points etc. with insecticidal soap.  Ivory soap works very well too.

Bay leaves have been used for centuries for ant control.  Put a leaf or two behind canisters on the counter, in your silver drawer, food shelves, anywhere ants have congregated.  Whole cloves are supposed to do the same thing.  

Peppermint sprayed around the edges of your house and ant entry points will deter ants as will growing peppermint and other mints in your foundation planting.  Spraying a mint extract or heavy mint tea might help; as long as it leaves a minty smell behind it is strong enough

Diatomaceous earth will cut up ants as quickly as it cuts up other small insects.  You can scatter this around and it is not dangerous to humans or pets unless breathed in quantity.
 

Red chili pepper paste or hot curry paste:  Spray it or mix it into a paste and put it on their trails.

So there’s the word on natural ant control.  Good luck and happy gardening!