Control Ants in the Organic Garden

Although horticulturalists don’t categorize ants as a garden pest, most people consider the ant an unwelcome tenant in the organic garden. Ants are aggressive, especially the notorious fire ant of the south, which seems to expand its territory northward year by year. Some ants maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with aphids. Ants can also ruin an otherwise perfect spring bouquet of peonies. It’s unreasonable to try to exterminate ants completely in an organic garden, but you can control them without resorting to harmful chemicals.

Create Homemade Ant Repellant

Ants are very sensitive to odors, as any picnicker can tell you. Just as they are attracted to sweets, certain smells repel them. Experiment with cotton balls soaked in ant-repelling essential oils. Ants detest mint, camphor, tansy, and clove oil. You can also grow your own ant repellent in the vegetable garden. Place hot peppers in a blender with a bit of water to create a dense mash, which you can spread in problem areas.

Keep Ants off Fruits and Flowers

Ants are attracted to sweet foods, and this includes many fruits and some nectar-rich flowers. Peonies, in particular, seem to attract ants just as buds turn to blossoms. Although ants rarely inflict damage to flowers or fruits, no gardener wants to mar the joy of harvest with a handful of swarming ants. You can use sticky traps to prevent ants from ascending the plant of concern. Buy a commercial sticky product, such as Tanglefoot, or make your own sticky traps from adhesive paper strips wrapped around the base of the plants.

Extinguish Aphids

If you notice a congregation of ants gathering on one of your garden specimens, be suspicious. Ants are purposeful creatures, not given to leisurely gatherings. Look closely, and use a magnifying glass if necessary: you will probably discover an infestation of aphids. The ants are enjoying the sweet honeydew excreted by the aphids. In exchange for this nourishment, the ants protect the aphids from their enemies, attacking such beneficial insects as ladybugs. You must treat the plant-damaging aphids first; the ants will seek food elsewhere.

Control Fire Ants

Fire ants deserve less of the organic gardener’s tolerance and sympathy. These aggressive invaders can crawl quickly up the gardener’s arm or leg, delivering dozens of painful bites before the victim detects them. They also prey on wildlife like lizards, frogs, spiders, and even birds in the garden. If you have any fire ant mounds on your property, you must destroy them. Cover the mound with a container, and pour boiling water around the container. Wait one minute, then turn over the container with a stick and pour an additional gallon of boiling water into the ants seeking refuge in the container. Repeat as necessary.

The Benefits of Ants

Don’t despair if you have more ants in your garden than you’d like. Ants aerate the soil, function as pollinators, and eat the eggs and larvae of fleas and other pests. Consider purchasing an ant farm to amuse the children, and learn more about the ways of this social insect.

Source:

Klein, H.D. & Wenner, A.M. Tiny Game Hunting (2001). Berkely: University of California Press.