This certainly is a big concern. While you have been taking the right approach thus far, it sounds like simply eliminating the ants that you see is not getting to the root of the problem. The best way to rid your garden and home of fire ants and carpenter ants is to identify the location of the colony/nest. Some of the colonies/nests can consist of hundreds or thousands of ants and what you are seeing each evening is only a small fraction of that.
Below you will find some great resources with a lot of treatment options from some cooperative extensions that should give you a good idea of the steps that need to be taken. And just remember that this will be a process and not something that will happen with one treatment. Patience and diligence will be needed to remedy your problem.
This certainly is a big concern. While you have been taking the right approach thus far, it sounds like simply eliminating the ants that you see is not getting to the root of the problem. The best way to rid your garden and home of fire ants and carpenter ants is to identify the location of the colony/nest. Some of the colonies/nests can consist of hundreds or thousands of ants and what you are seeing each evening is only a small fraction of that.
Below you will find some great resources with a lot of treatment options from some cooperative extensions that should give you a good idea of the steps that need to be taken. And just remember that this will be a process and not something that will happen with one treatment. Patience and diligence will be needed to remedy your problem.