"Spider" wrote in message
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"Ophelia" wrote in message
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snipped ... repeat of post for Ophelia. Sorrry to others. Spider


Do ants do damage in the garden? If so, what plants will they hurt?


They tend to do secondary damage following, say, slug and wasp damage, and
frost or mechanical damage. Occasionally, they will undermine a plant by
building their nest under it, but I've hardly ever heard of a case of
this. They also 'farm' and 'milk' aphids; they enjoy the sugary excreta of
aphids, so offer protection to the aphids in return for their 'honeydew'.
Sounds nicer than poo, doesn't it? :~) This can confuse inexperienced
gardeners, who believe they need to treat their ant problem when, in fact,
it's their aphid problem that is at the root of their troubles. Because
ants like sugary foods, they tend to be attracted to ripening fruit.

Ants do not like water, so the OP could try seriously wetting the nest
site. To find the nest, watch the ants to see where they come from and
return to. The soil around the nest is very fine, having a sandy quality.
It is easy for me to spot a nest in my heavy clay soil; not so easy for
someone on sandy soil.

Spider