Tumbleweed wrote:
"tony" wrote in message
...

Hi All,
Can anyone suggest a solution to a problem I have, it's ants. I have ants
eating my strawberries, by plums are infested with them as are my apples

and

pears.
I have used grease bands on the fruit trees and stakes to keep the little
blighters off but they are still there.
My compost heaps are also infested with them and although I turn them
regularly this doesn't seem to deter them.
HELP!!!
Tony


IME they can be reduced or eliminated in local areas by heavy watering. They
like it dry. I'm sure many here have said if you have ants in your compost
its too dry.
I've got rid (For the time being anyway) of a large establishment of ants on
a part of my lawn by watering it every day. Not with a sprinkler but with
the hose running slowly onto the affected areas. The soil is very damp but
not waterlogged an dteh ants are gone. It took 3 weeks though and I'm sure
if I dont occassionally water they'll be back.


Apparently you can drown them if you add a little detergent (presumably
washing up liquid would do). They can survive in wet soil because they
have a waxy lining in their lungs, the detergent dissolves this and they
drown - or something. No idea what effect it would have on your plants
though.

I also read something about complementary planting. Some people say ants
hate all mints (spearmint, peppermint, catnip, etc), tansy, and
pennyroyal. Mind you, other people say the ants actually like these
plants, but that's the internet for you - certainly no shortage of
opinions. The americans seem to swear by something called grits that
swell up inside the ant when it eats them, causing it to burst.

Whatever works or doesn't, the general consensus seems to be that you
can't get rid of them, the best you can hope for is to make life so
unpleasant for them that they choose to move somewhere else, which is
perhaps all you need.