In article ,
Jim Chisholm wrote:
On 01/08/2014 00:11, Jim S wrote:
On Thu, 31 Jul 2014 22:21:21 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 31 Jul 2014 21:27:53 +0100, Roger Tonkin
wrote:

Whilst pulling weeds today, I pull up a root and exposed a
large black ants nest,( and the damned things got all over
me!). As there were a lot of small winged ants there, my
immediate instinct was to dig out the ant powder fom the shed,
but....

I suddenly wondered: Do ants do good or harm in the garden,? Do
we need them? Are the flying horrors best off despatched?

I realise that poor ignorant man that I am, I don't know!

Ants can be a damn nuisance. In a lawn, they raise humps that get
scalped by the mower. They undermine paving slabs, which then become
uneven and a trip-hazard, and they can make their nests in plant
roots, causing the plants to die. I notice the last when I try and
establish hedge plants along the tops of Cornish walls/hedges. Plants
won't thrive and usually die if there's a nest under the roots. But
ants are everywhere, and I don't usually worry about them except where
they become a nuisance as I've described.

Most of the time they don't bother me, but if they start coming indoors I
use those 'Antstop' box thingies along their route. They are supposed to
take their contents home to mummy and pop their clogs. I put them under a
stone/tile/slate to keep the rain out and they last all summer.

I have trouble with then in my potato patch. I suspect it can cause
distortion of the potatoes?

So can stones, tree roots or even worms. No, they don't harm
potatoes, except by the soil disturbance where they actually
build their nest. Worry about something real.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.