On 17/06/2013 19:56, Molly1966 wrote:
Hi Everyone, I am new to this forum. I have been having problems with
red ants, masses of them. I've dug over my garden, putting in some new
soil too. They get into my planters, well, seems they are everywhere
this year. I'm a little distraught because I planted a tree for my late
father, it was thriving until recently, the leaves are hanging down, its
kinda looking all sad.
I would hate to dig it back up, been in the garden 2 months now.
I would appreciate any advice on how to get rid of the little
critters..

The main problem with ants occurs when they excavate soil from pots to
create their nests. In my experience, they always do this through the
drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. To stop this, always place a
piece of weedproof membrane over the hole (or cut a disk the same size
as the pot bottom, and place it so that it covers all the holes. But
take care to cover those side holes in some pots!) and then fill it with
compost/soil.

--

Jeff