Spider wrote:
"Spider" wrote in message
...

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

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? :~)

Just a bit

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.

Many thanks for this most informative post, Spider!

saved