Ants in my garden.

Although I don't think ants really harm anything, you can kill them by pouring boiling water into their hills.

Ants like to eat, eat and eat...Watch out for danger in the garden!

Cucumber peelings or slices. Ants hate cucumbers and will do anything to not be any where near them. I discovered this solution in one of those Graham Haley Helpful Hints books and tried it when I had a recent ant infestation in my apartment. The ants were mounting an invasion of my bathroom. I went out and bought a couple of cucumbers, peeled them and put the peels in cheese cloth and hung it from the drain pipe under the sink. The ants were gone within hours.


Just looked up ants in his book and he has other suggestions too.

Sage or white pepper will repel ants if sprinkled around affected areas.

He also says to draw a chalk line on the floor or the wall where the ants march. Says ants won't cross a chalk line.

He also suggests leaving apple pieces, core or peelings where ants enter. When brought back to the anthill, the acid in the apple kills the queen and the colony.

If you like natural/generic remedies for all kinds of things, pick up his book. I've been trying quite a few of his suggestions with successful results. Haley's Hints: A Compilation and Haley's Cleaning Hints.

Red pepper!

They do aerate the soil better than any earthworm. Are you sure they are bothering you. Well, run them off - you've probably got really good soil anyway

Swimpy and Roger
I was wondering if they actually do any harm and if they won't harm my veggies I just assume leave them alone.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the help.

They won't harm your garden--unless you call cleaning up a cracked watermelon harm. They may actually benefit your garden by keeping other pests away and by bringing up useful minerals from the sub soil.

I'm afraid I use garden insect spray. Also use snail bait, or they'll attack all the flowers. c.i.

LOL! Maybe your ants are just out for sex.





You might want to check the underside of the leaves in your garden to be sure you don't also have aphids.

ants in the garden don't bother me; as stated earlier they do seem to be beneficial. now, we don't like it when they start coming into the house -the smallest crevice seems to be large enough for them to get in (by mistake perhaps?). when that that happens we put some INSECTIGONE - diatomaceous earth from fossil deposits - at the point of entry. have also used it in the garden - it' a non-toxic product; of course you need to follow the instructions. it is harmful to ALL insects that come in contact with it; i understand that it works by "cutting" into the insects body. hbg.

By the by, copperheads smell like cucumbers and this is why ants avoid cucumber peels.

They really do--I have had opportunities to smell copperheads on two separate occasions.

You guys are great. I was all worried that they were eating the roots on my veggies that I was gonna do what I could to get rid of them. Now I know that they won't bother my garden and may actually be good for it, I'm going to leave them alone to do whatever they do. Before I posted this question I did a little research on line and someone said that cornmeal would work, so since I had some I sprinkled some all over my garden. I guess when they eat it it expands in their stomach and supposedly they explode. I suppose I jumped the gun in this instant by doing first and asking questions later, but it's nice to know that you guys are always ready to help out.

We don't have an ant problem at all in the house, but I'll know what to do if it ever happens :-D Never thought cucumber peels would ever be good for anything ;-)

someone told me today that ants won't cross talcum powder - so if you have problemns with them coming into the house a line of talc will stop them - I haven't tried it but he swears by it.

before using talcum powder better read this article from MEDLINE. according to this article talcum powder can be pretty nasty stuff. anyone ever hear of this before? hbg. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002719.htm#top

you might also read up about diatomaceous earth in this link. hbghttp://www.hawkassociates.com/diatect/profile.pdf

Vivien
Thankfully the ants are all outside :-D By the way, I absolutely love your avatar ;-)

I never use the stuff, but that's good to know. I'll spread the word when me and the gals are wrapped up in girl talk, thanks ;-)

By the way, your user name always makes me want a hamburger. Hmmmmm, I wonder why, LOL!

I think the reference was to swallowing talcum powder.

I know babies can get into breathing difficulties if mama is overly enthusiastic with the powder can.

I also know that if you are having radiation treatment--or even x-rays--that you shouldn't have talcum powder on. Cornstarch is okay. Ground rocks can deflect x-rays and talcum is a ground up rock.