"Donna deMedicis" wrote in message
link.net...
My method all this summer has been to pile greens (coffee grounds /
kitchen scraps, mostly) layered with browns (shredded newspapers and
leaves) in a corner of my back yard. I live WAY out in the country, so
aesthetics are not a problem.

My plan was to take this lovely stuff and pile it on my lasagna-gardened
flower beds after the first couple of frost.

This a.m., I was out there, shoveling into three 40 gal. trash cans in
preparation, and that stuff is eaten up with ants. And the ants became
furious at the shoveling activity and bit the hell outta me.

The 3 trash cans are just gonna sit there, 'cause frost is probably 30 -
45 days away (South Carolina -- Zone 8).

WILL the cold kill the little rat *******s? IF I simply leave it there
until April, will the little biting things be dead?

To prevent future outbreaks, I plan to fling a few handfuls, amongst the
layers, of ant killer pellets as I build up my pile again. It makes me
sad to introduce chemicals, but it ain't fun to play in your compost pile
if you have to battle little creatures who hate your guts and are willing
to prove it with every shovel full.

Donna

My compost pile was alive with fire-ants this summer.

I was at my wits end trying to decide what to do. I even sought advice from
this and other news groups. Then I remembered. Every time I knocked over a
fire-ant mound in my yard, the ants abandoned that mound.

I turned my compost pile and the ants left it and set up a new mound
elsewhere on my lawn, which I treated with antrol.(?)

I now turn my compost pile,and soak it down every week or two. Since then
I've not had any further problem with the pile being invaded by fire-ants.