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)

Nope, ant dust will not affect the bulbs. You can also get ant spray at your
local hardware store and this will also get rid of them for you. All are
harmless to the bulbs


"Flossie" wrote in message
...
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)

"Flossie" wrote
snip
*$#(@! ants! Seems like we live on one massive anthill here in W.A. They're
everywhere. The only thing I've found to work is "Amdro". Very expensive but
it works. I had new paving put down and within a week the blasted things
were busy excavating underneath. The guy who did the paving said use Amdro,
nothing else. It worked a wonder. I've bought everything else, $8 here, $12
there, but it's all useless. Waste of money. With Amdro you can watch them
grab the stuff and take it to their nests. Everything else they seem to toss
aside. Don't know if this will hurt the plants. Perhaps spread the Amdro,
then wait til they're gone. I would think that as long as you're not
planting something you're going to eat, it should be okay.

Good luck.

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)

"Flossie" wrote in message
...
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.

The ants seem to be running rampant here too.
Not sure why. One suggestion was the excessively wet gound around here has
brought them to the surface. I would have thought that would be the
opposite, and the recent (and current) rain would drive them deeper.
Who knows?

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.

I haven't had much experience with bulbs, but be careful with the dose of
Blood and Bone. Don't use a great deal yet, making sure it's mixed in well.

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??

The ant dust won't affect the bulbs. Watering may affect the dust, but all
that probably means is that re-application of it.
The dust is probably the best to use. There are sprays, including the same
stuff that is used for Army Worm, Lawn grubs etc. That should not affect the
bulbs, but it's pretty toxic, and could kill worms, but not sure.

Good luck

--
Remove "not" from start of email address to reply

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)

Interesting Helena.where do I purchase "Amdro" from.
Regards.
Norman


"Helena" wrote in message
...
"Flossie" wrote
snip
*$#(@! ants! Seems like we live on one massive anthill here in W.A.
They're
everywhere. The only thing I've found to work is "Amdro". Very expensive
but
it works. I had new paving put down and within a week the blasted things
were busy excavating underneath. The guy who did the paving said use
Amdro,
nothing else. It worked a wonder. I've bought everything else, $8 here,
$12
there, but it's all useless. Waste of money. With Amdro you can watch them
grab the stuff and take it to their nests. Everything else they seem to
toss
aside. Don't know if this will hurt the plants. Perhaps spread the Amdro,
then wait til they're gone. I would think that as long as you're not
planting something you're going to eat, it should be okay.

Good luck.

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)

How about the liquid antrid ? Is that effective?

My garden is also teeming with ants - it seems to be the condition of dry
weather that allowed them to breed last year. The recent downpour has forced
some of them to the surface.

I found my letterbox area covered with small red ants. There were also
hundreds of drones - ants with wings - with them. I covered their tracks
with antrid and they seem to have all disappeared.

"Andrew G" wrote in message ...
"Flossie" wrote in message
...
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.

The ants seem to be running rampant here too.
Not sure why. One suggestion was the excessively wet gound around here has
brought them to the surface. I would have thought that would be the
opposite, and the recent (and current) rain would drive them deeper.
Who knows?

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.

I haven't had much experience with bulbs, but be careful with the dose of
Blood and Bone. Don't use a great deal yet, making sure it's mixed in well.

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??

The ant dust won't affect the bulbs. Watering may affect the dust, but all
that probably means is that re-application of it.
The dust is probably the best to use. There are sprays, including the same
stuff that is used for Army Worm, Lawn grubs etc. That should not affect the
bulbs, but it's pretty toxic, and could kill worms, but not sure.

Good luck

--
Remove "not" from start of email address to reply

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)






Hi,

I'm in Sydney but had a similar problem with huge ant colonies in my
front garden beds (sounds like yours - millions of the little
critters). I tried everything, but to no avail - they always came
back in droves. Ended up I had to bring out the big guns in chemicals
- used Chek-a-Pest which is toxic, but got rid of them quickly and
easily - no more ants.

Good luck
Michelle

How about the liquid antrid ? Is that effective?

My garden is also teeming with ants - it seems to be the condition of dry
weather that allowed them to breed last year. The recent downpour has forced
some of them to the surface.

I found my letterbox area covered with small red ants. There were also
hundreds of drones - ants with wings - with them. I covered their tracks
with antrid and they seem to have all disappeared.

How about the liquid antrid ? Is that effective?

My garden is also teeming with ants - it seems to be the condition of dry
weather that allowed them to breed last year. The recent downpour has forced
some of them to the surface.

I found my letterbox area covered with small red ants. There were also
hundreds of drones - ants with wings - with them. I covered their tracks
with antrid and they seem to have all disappeared.