Experts have urged gardeners to tolerate ants in gardens “wherever possible”
In gardens ants can be important predators but can also cause soil disturbance(Image: Getty Images)
Garden pests can be a nightmare for people trying to take pride in their gardens. They are often drawn to the resources in our gardens such as food, water and shelter.
While they are a part of the garden’s ecosystem and can be beneficial in many ways, some gardeners will try many methods to rid pests like slugs, aphids and weeds from their property.
Among the insects we may find in our gardens are ants. They are one of the most numerous insects and are an important component of ecosystems worldwide.
In gardens ants can be important predators but can also cause soil disturbance. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, ants do little direct damage to plants, although they can disturb soil around plant roots and “deposit it on the surface during their nest building activities.”
The garden charity has warned that this can be an issue on lawns and where low-growing plants are being buried by excavated soil. They state: “Ants may also disturb plant roots in pots and containers. This disturbance can also mean that plants are more prone to wilting especially when dry at the roots.”
Experts from RHS have urged gardeners to tolerate ants in gardens “wherever possible” as they do not cause damage to garden plants and continue to be an important part of the biodiversity gardens can support.
Unless a nest is particularly troublesome, it should be left alone. If a colony is destroyed it is likely that its place will be taken by in-coming queen ants, which take over the territory and may establish even more new nests.
You can disperse ant heaps on lawns by brushing the excavated soil on a dry day before the lawn is mown. However, the soil will get smeared on the lawn surface by the mower if it’s not a dry day.
Another method to improve the appearance of your lawn after ant activity has been outlined by RHS. They suggest: “If the lawn has an uneven surface due to years of ant activity, peel back the turf in the raised areas, remove excess soil and relay the turf. This is easier to do in the winter when ants are less active.”
Ant nests contain one or more fertile female queen ants, which lay eggs in brood chambers within the nest. Most of the other ants in a nest are smaller wingless sterile females, which are known as worker ants.
Gardeners World magazine has shared further tips to disperse ants, they encourage those desperate to get rid of ants to “water the pot regularly”, if they are nesting in a plant pot.
The garden experts state: “You can move them on by watering the pot regularly. Avoid completely flooding the pot, as this can kill the ants.
“But regular watering will let them know that the plant pot isn’t the best place to make a nest – as they do best in dry environments – so they will move their eggs elsewhere.”
However, if ants are nesting in your compost bin or beneath paving stones they are unlikely to be doing any harm, you should consider letting them get on with it.