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Gardeners World blog

Gardeners' musings

Ant attack

Posted by: Pippa Greenwood, 09 August 2007, 02.19PM

Ants It may not be 'nice' it may not be kind, and it certainly isn't my normal style... but I've taken to victimising ants! Well, it's not exactly a campaign, but I have to confess that despite my usual "ants belong in the garden... they got there before I did" attitude, I have now started to dispose of them.

OK, I still feel guilty every time I flatten one, as I remember my mother's adage: 'be kind to your six-legged friends - an ant may be somebody's mother!'. BUT... I have had enough. Everywhere I sit outside for a cuppa, or every time I kneel down to tend some plants or remove some weeds, one (or six or more) nips up my legs and bites me where it hurts. My legs are positively screaming on bad days. And then, to top it all, the horseflies are out.

They all seem to have thrived on the super-saturated patch that was my garden. I might just become the first ant-eating vegetarian.

Comments

  • Jan

    11 August 2007, 01.18PM

    Whist have never liked killing any living creature, insect or otherwise, recently I have had to take drastic measures! Underneath my step to my new patio I seemed to acquire a mass of ants and unfortunately I had to do something about it as they were even crawling on my dog and cat as they lazed around in the sun.

  • sewspicy

    11 August 2007, 03.42PM

    I had never given ants much thought until twenty minutes ago but I not only have them in my compost bin, they're now in my greenhouse. Help how do I get rid of them? P.s. Im not a killer I usualy pick up spiders and put them outside whilst others scream.

  • Tracey

    12 August 2007, 09.32PM

    Ditto Ditto!! Re: Ant attack. We are swarmed this year, and aswell as everything has a purpose in life I feel we are certainly out numbered and ants in multiples do prove to be an irritating, itchy, biting nuisance this year.

  • Tina

    14 August 2007, 05.21PM

    The ants in our garden are beyond a joke now. They are everywhere. Under paving slabs, in containers, in the rockery,in every hole I dig and under any spot on the lawn anyone wants to sit on! I've tried boiling water, sprays and powders but nothing seems to make much difference. They're fascinating but it's not funny any more. Does anyone know the relationship betwee the ants and the very small off-white moths that come out of the nests just as the ants start to swarm? I've wondered for years.

  • Katbir

    15 August 2007, 09.04AM

    Ants! I can live with them in the garden, but I've drawn the line when they invade our kitchen. Everywhere was covered with them trying to use their newly formed wings. Ugh! The vacuum cleaner was the only answer but we couldn't find how they had got in. A few days later the same happened again but this time we were there to watch the invasion. They were coming through a ventilation grille in the utility room next to the kitchen. Out came the vac again. We're now on permanent ant alert and the "vac method" does seem to work (inside the house).

  • Les and Anne

    15 August 2007, 03.15PM

    We own and run a Hardy Cyclamen nursery and have had ant problems for years. They are attracted to the sweet covering of the ripening seeds and walk off with them unless we get there first. We use RAID Ant & Cockroach Killer (natural pyrethrum) which locally clears the ants rapidly. As a bonus we now don't have Vine Weevil!! It clears them also.

  • Maureen Green

    15 August 2007, 07.44PM

    My garden is mostly organic/wildlife but yes the ants seem to be takeing overthis year. They have inhabited my compost bins so i will have to wait till winter to see if i can rescue any compost. They will enter the home through any small hole crack or ventilation shaft. I bought some user friendly traps for the house as the pup seems to think everything on the floor is his. Happy hunting!

  • Cazzie

    22 September 2007, 03.34PM

    For some reason, possibly from a childhood memory I expect, I am terrified of flying ants. So this year I have been not just attacked by black ones ,but red flying ants too. My neighbours thing I'm in deep mourning as I seem to be swathed in a veils. Why do we have so many this year?? I'm In Surrey

  • frances

    22 September 2007, 07.25PM

    Tina, your 'moths' are probably the flight of the young females and males leaving the nest to look for new nesting sites. They lose the wings after a couple of days.

  • david bolwell

    23 September 2007, 11.43AM

    Just like to say to all so far ,Be grateful they are the size they are and not mouse or rat size ,then we would all have a real problem!!

  • caron

    19 January 2008, 08.20PM

    Have a bank of clay (substitute for soil!) in my garden and nearly all the plants I put in last autumn have been eaten. I'm sure this is because of all the ants nesting on the bank. It's impossible to dig as the incline is so steep. Any suggestions to get rid of these killing ants (or could the plants be being destroyed by something else?)

  • Darren

    05 April 2008, 07.38PM

    After building my first raised bed in an effort to grow some veg this year I have just noticed that within 3 weeks the new top soil is covered in ants. Will they eat my germinating seeds and young plants? Is there a pesticide to kill the ants that is safe to use on edible vegetables? Please help?!

  • Doreen

    20 April 2008, 04.31PM

    Although I am looking forward to the warmer weather I know I will wake up one morning to see around 50 piles of soil on my lawn (ants, red ones). This will be the 4th year, although I have used powder, liquids, and heaven knows what to remove them. Seems worse when it has been raining, I think they must come up for air! Any solution to this problem anyone?

  • thetrainsman

    01 May 2008, 03.12PM

    Ants everywhere, argggh, I know they are not a pest, merely an irritation, but I have an infestation of them in my compost bin. I have got rid of ants on paths etc, using boiling water, ok ok not very humane but still quite organic, I am, however loathe to use boiling water on them in my compost bin as there are loads of luverly worms doing all sorts of good things to the compost, and I think I may kill them off as well which I don't really want to. Please are there any other humane methods for getting rid of ants and at the same time allowing other "good" creepy crawlies alone. Please help.

  • liz

    29 May 2008, 10.30PM

    our front lawn(and borders) has 10-12 red ants nests in it. this is getting very close to the house. any ideas on how to get rid of them?

  • sunnysmile

    16 June 2008, 09.57AM

    I seem to have ants living in our patio terracotta pots; the ones most affected seem to contain plants that aren't doing so well. Has any one got any ideas how to rid the pots of them?

  • dave

    12 July 2008, 12.03PM

    Ants don't cause to much of a problem in my garden. The ones I get are red ants, and I was worried about them at first, until I saw them attacking the caterpillars that seem to destroy some of our plants every year, and pulling them apart. The plants have done much better this year, thanks to the ants. I then read up on ants, and found out that they eat lots of caterpillars and other pests to feed their lavae. I also read that red ants don't encourage aphids, like black ants do and that they also kill any black ants that come into their territory, so they keep the numbers of aphid-encouraging black ants down. The only problem is that they sting, but the easiest way to get read of red ants(if they are nesting under stones) is to turn over the stone and then to leave them for a couple of hours. With luck, the ants will move to somewhere where they won't bother you. This will not work on black ants, though, because black ants don't have shallow nests under stones.

  • Linda

    25 August 2008, 04.59PM

    I have red ants in my front garden. They have created about 15 mounds of earth. I don't know what to do to get rid of them. I have tried boiling water - digging out the dead grass etc and re-seeding, this has not worked. I also read (can't remember where) a male's urine does the trick - tried that and it doesn't!!! in fact it seems to have encouraged them even more!! PLEASE HELP!!!

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