Preparing for bulbs
 

Hello, Im hoping you can give me some advice.

I have a rose garden in my front yard, the roses have never really taken off
so I have decided to transplant them somewhere else and turn the garden into
a lovely display of bulbs. Anyway, today I took out the roses and made a
garden out the back for them but I think I discovered the reason they never
did real well. The dirt in that garden bed is absoloutely infested with
very small ants. It almost looked as though the dirt was moving, there were
so many of them. Im assuming they were eating the roses' root system as
their roots were very stunted. Anyway, rather than plant my bulbs and hope
for the best I thought I would seek some advice first.

I have plans to improve the soil quality, I have a load of good quality dirt
to which I will be adding compost mixed with blood and bone. I also have
NPK Blue as I have been told that once the bulbs sprout that they like that.

BUT... my question is this... how do I get rid of the ants?? If I sprinkle
ant dust in the dirt will this hurt the bulbs I intend to plant??? Also,
will the ant dust be affected by watering??

Im really wanting to get started on the garden bed ASAP so I am really
hoping someone has some experience with a similar problem.

ALL advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Flossie (south west WA)

Preparing for bulbs
 

I would use boiling water if feasible, or just dig and water thoroughly,
as ant dust will hang around for a while. It won't hurt your bulbs, though.

Ants are usually a problem when the soil is dry and sandy. If that's the
case in your garden then improving the soil with compost and manure, and
keeping it moist should help.

Jane