Ants. A problem or not?

wendyedon49 · May 2023

Hello. Over the past 18 months I have allowed the majority of my back garden to go wild mowing 2 paths through the lawn and sewing wild flowers through the remaining grass. Recently I have noticed a large increase in the amount of ant nests.. small hills in some cases and wondered if these will do any harm to the young trees and shrubs planted in among the grass. I have a crap apple, fig, lilac, buddleia, and smoke tree along with primroses, bluebells and a variety of spring bulbs and wildflowers. Can ants damage anything planted? Also, how do I control them?

Butterfly66 · May 2023

They won’t do any harm at all.

Dovefromabove · May 2023

We have ants nests/hills all over our garden and they do no damage. They do attract green woodpeckers tho 😊 and we love watching blackbirds ‘anting’ on the anthills to get the formic acid on their feathers to deter mites.

If you notice ants are nesting under the roots of rose bushes or in containers then keeping them well-watered will send them to look for a dryer home. 🐜 👍

Plantminded · May 2023

Dovefromabove said:

we love watching blackbirds ‘anting’ on the anthills to get the formic acid on their feathers to deter mites.

Fascinating, I'll have to watch out for that! (You learn something new here every day!)

raisingirl · May 2023

I have dug out a dead or dying plant and found a big ant nest under the roots, but it's tricky to say whether the conditions that attracted them (very dry) are actually what did the plant harm, and the ants just happened to be there. They can be a problem in a pot, but in open ground, I wouldn't worry

Busy-Lizzie · May 2023

I had a lovely big rhubarb plant, then ants made an anthill all around it and it died. Ants have also crawled up the walls of my house in France and made nests under the roof. Dead ants keep dropping into the bath and the guest bedroom. Can't say I'm really a fan of ants.

Obelixx · May 2023

It depends where they are @wendyedon49. In grass or dry areas they're fine and do attract predators such as green woodpeckers which can be entertaining thoa bit painful if you disturb them whilst gardening as they nip. In amongst roses and other treasures they can farm aphids by carrying them onto the plants and then protecting them against predators such as ladybirds because they want the honeydew the aphids secrete to feed their own young and that can be a pain. They can also make nests of tunnels under plants and in pots and that means tunnels of air so plant roots wither and die and cannot succour the plant. Like @Busy-Lizzie I had them under rhubarb but was in time to rescue them and I've had them in pots too. The answer to that is to water thoroughly as they nest in dry soil and you can add 1 small bottle of essential oil of cloves to 5 litres of water and pour that on affected pots and plants. They hate the smell and move on.

JennyJ · May 2023

I get black ants in the borders and under the path/drive and yellow ones in the lawn/grass. I generally leave them alone unless they're setting up home in a plant pot or in the roots of a particularly prized plant that I don't have lots of. In that case lots of water is added to encourage them to move on.

Ants. A problem or not?

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