Is it ok to have ants in my landscape beds?? Quite a few!?

Question

I noticed as I was brushing back mulch and soil in my beds, to paint the blocks of my foundation walls, that I have a considerable number of ants. I also recently lost two smaller plants near this area? I would think the ants would help aerate the soil, but now I'm not sure.

Answer 1

You can leave them be.  Ants help compost the soil and they can be a good fertilizing agent in moderation.  If they become too numerous, use a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. The ants will come for the sugar and take the cinnamon too.  Ants cannot digest cinnamon and when they take it back to their queen she will explode after a while and the colony will die out without her.  Cucumber peels also have the same effect as the cinnamon.  Either one is safe to use indoors or around animals.  Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Ants traveling aren't a problem, you don't want and nest in the beds. On mass they destroy the soil structure that holds the roots. They can even kill trees. Ants will move where moisture is, our area has been in drought and they track to plants where they can steal moisture. As a rule, destroy anthills in beds or around the base of trees.

Answer 3

I had the same problem.  I kept reading over and over that the ants are not a problem and as you said help aerate the soil.  I eventually came across something that said ants can tunnel too much dirt away from around the roots of smaller plants, killing them.  I've also read that termites will use ant tunnels, so I'd be a concerned about the fact they are at your foundation.  I used sugar mixed with 5% borax (with an upside down plant pot over top with a brick on it, to keep pets away).  In about three weeks the ants were gone.  I don't go around killing every ant in my garden, ants do have their place in the ecosystem.  But in that particular bed I couldn't get any plants thriving until I took care of the colony.

Answer 4

Just to add to what the others have said. Ants will literally farm Mealy bugs and aphids like we do cattle. Moving them to safer more tender spots on the plant so that they may harvest the sugary excrement of the insect for food.